Class 
Book 



THE RISEN REDEEMER: 

THE GOSPEL HISTOKY FROM THE EESUERECTION 
TO THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



f HE RISEN REDEEMER: 



THE GOSPEL HISTORY 



FROM THE 



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P. W. KRDMMACHEE, D. D., 

AUTHOR OF " ELIJAH THE TISHBITE." 



TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY JOHN T. -BETTS, 
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NEW YORK: 
ROBERT CARTER & BROTHERS 

No. 5 30 BROADWAY. 
1863. 



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PEEFACE. 



The bodily resurrection of Christ from the dead is the fun- 
damental basis of Christianity. " If Christ be not risen 
from the dead/' exclaims the apostle, " then is your faith 
vain." So long as the hostile critic does not succeed in 
effacing that fact as a fable from the page of history, all 
efforts to subvert the supernatural basis of our faith and 
hope are in vain ; and however zealously the rash work of 
destruction has been prosecuted, it has, up to the present 
hour, been a failure. The miracle of the third day has 
resisted all levers and engines exerted against it by refined 
subtilty, as completely as if they were no more than the 
jugglery of a paltry legerdemain. This one miracle, well 
sustained, bears, supports, and accredits all the others to 
which the gospel bears testimony ; and it stands still, and 
will continue to defy, every assault. 

It is worthy of observation, that even David Strauss, the 
renowned chief of the most recent assailants of Heaven, finds 
himself constrained openly to admit, that the notion that 
the first disciples of Jesus, the apostles, were not themselves 
fully convinced of the truth of His bodily resurrection, is 



PREFACE. 



utterly untenable, and must be given up. This declaration 
appears in his recently-published work upon the writings of 
his intellectual progenitor, Reimarus. 

We attach importance to this confession of an arch enemy 
of all sacred history the rather, because the only and last 
shift by which he seeks to find an excuse for his infidelity is 
truly absurd ; for he endeavours to persuade himself, and 
this undoubtedly in opposition to his better knowledge and 
conviction, that the disciples confounded a beautiful phan- 
tasy with a historical fact. Thus doth the Lord take the 
wise in their own craftiness, and, as we suggest, renders the 
cleverest men, ere they are aware of it, sport for children. 

In the present work, the author, in his endeavour to pro- 
mote edification, unites also an apologetic aim, and hopes, 
with the Divine blessing, to assist in strengthening the faith 
of the conscientious doubter by clearing away his difficulties 
in a sympathetic spirit. This work, published [in Germany] 
under the title of " The Easter Manual," forms, with his two 
preceding works, the book for the season of Advent, and 
that for Passion-week, a devotional trilogy, for these three 
ecclesiastical epochs. It will be gratifying to find this work as 
favourably received as the preceding ones. It treats of the 
loftiest and most delightful subject of contemplation that can 
occupy us here on earth. May the Spirit of the Lord seal 
the testimony as true to many a heart, however feeble the 
form in which it is presented ! 

DR F. W. KRUMMACHER. 



CONTENTS, 



DISCOURSE t 

EASTER-EVEN , 1 

DISCOURSE II. 

THE MIRACLE OF EASTER 12 

. DISCOURSE HI. 

THE EMPTY GRAVE . . . , . 27 

DISCOURSE IV. 
Christ's first appearance 41 

DISCOURSE V, 

THE risen one appears to the women AND TO SIMON 55 

DISCOURSE VI. 

THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS, FIRST MEDITATION. ....... 67 

DISCOURSE VII. 

THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS.— SECOND MEDITATION 86 

DISCOURSE VIIL 

THE PRINCE OF PEACE IN THE EVENING ASSEMBLY 96 

DISCOURSE IX. 

THOMAS s Ill 



(vii) 



Vlll CONTENTS, 



PAGE 

DISCOURSE X, 

THE APPEARANCE AT THE LAKE 127 

DISCOURSE XL 

peter's love to christ tested 140 

DISCOURSE XII. 
peter's way 154 

DISCOURSE XIII. 
the risen saviour seen of more than five hundred witnesses at 

ONCE 1 10 

DISCOURSE XIY. 

THE RISEN SAVIOUR AND JAMES 183 

DISCOURSE XV. 

THE APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN... 195 

DISCOURSE XYI. 

THE ASCENSION 212 

DISCOURSE XVII. 

THE TIME OF WAITING. 228 

DISCOURSE XVIII. 

THE DAY OF PENTECOST 241 

DISCOURSE XIX. 

THE ADDRESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST ....... . 260 

DISCOURSE XX. 

THE PENTECOSTAL COMFORTER , 2*73 

DISCOURSE XXI. 

THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY . 285 



I. 



EASTER-EVEN. 

" If Christ be not raised," exclaims the apostle, (1 Cor. xv. 
17,) "your faith is vain." Truer words were never uttered 
than these, and never was their truth more distinctly and 
palpably manifested than in our own day. Human wisdom 
has exhausted itself in speculations, and has set every engine 
in motion to obtain a final settlement of the question, " To 
be, or not to be?" "What has been the result ? Our philo- 
sophic inquirers, wearied with their flights of thought, have 
ended in confessing that the prospect of a personal existence 
after death becomes more and more obscure to their investi- 
gations. There remains therefore the one, but (God be 
praised !) the far more than sufficient, pillar of our hope — 
that great historical fact, the memorial of which we celebrate 
at Easter. To this event, the most teeming with promise of 
any within the range of universal history, we would devote 
a fresh series of meditations, and may your heartfelt sympa- 
thies not fail us whilst we seek to lay them before you. Our 
purpose is restricted to the strengthening of your conviction 
of the reality of the great event, so as to render your faith 
immovable ; and then to lead you on to the joyful and be- 
lieving appropriation of this most consolatory of all miracles. 
May the Lord graciously give me success in both attempts, 
and may He crown that of Easter-even, to which I now in- 
vite you, with His blessing ! 



2 



EASTER-EVEN. 



Matt, xxvii. 62-66. 
" Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief 
priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember 
that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise 
again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the 
third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say 
unto the people, He is risen from the dead : so the last error shall be worse 
than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch : go your way, 
make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, 
sealing the stone, and setting a watch." 

Be not dismayed when you see the Lord of glory treated 
as a malefactor even at the grave. What His enemies there 
dared to attempt turns out, under God's guidance, only to 
His own glorification. It is a guard of honour with which 
they unwillingly surround His resting-place. They are 
actually constructing Him a throne, whilst they purpose only 
to erect a pillory on which to disgrace Him publicly, and to 
brand Him as a deceiver. They design to perpetuate Good 
Friday, and they underlay the glory of Easter with a foil 
upon which it develops itself the more brilliantly. Let us 
in thought draw nearer to this extraordinary scene. After 
contemplating the involuntary celebration of Easter-eve by 
His adversaries, let us with very different sentiments perform 
its proper celebration at the holy sepulchre, which may God 
bless ! 

I. The soul-deserted body of the Lord has rested the first 
nio-ht in its narrow stone chamber, but His murderers, the 

o 

members of the Sanhedrim, have not. We already meet 
them at early dawn moving about restlessly, and the expres- 
sion of their features betokens anything rather than triumph 
and inward peace. Have they seen a departed, spirit in the 
night ? Yes ; wherever they go or stay He whom bodily they 
slew on the cross presents Himself, and follows them like a 
spectre. They have murdered Him, but they have not got 
rid of Him. They are fully conscious that they have dragged 



EASTEK-EVEN. 



3 



an innocent, guiltless man to execution, but the awakened 
conscience is not to be lulled with lying subterfuges, as if 
He had attacked Moses, had reviled the temple, and had led 
the people astray. What they witnessed at Golgotha, the 
glorious termination of the righteous One's career, the public' 
confession of the heathen centurion, and especially the mani- 
festation of the Almighty by the darkened sun, the earth- 
quake, and the opening of the graves, served but to render 
them more sensitive to the lashes of that scourge which the 
judge within their breast incessantly inflicted on them. What 
marvel then if the Crucified One, in the form of a bloody 
spectre, was ever present to them, chasing away sleep from 
their eyes ? Assuredly there is not a man amongst us who 
has decidedly rejected Christ that can ever wholly banish 
Him. Such a one, though he decline to confess it, lives 
ever in a secret feud with his conscious inner life. The soul 
within him cannot avoid recognising the superhuman exalta- 
tion of Jesus, and at the same time His just claim to the 
homage and subjection of all. However earnestly he may 
combat and strive to silence this inner self, it will incessantly 
whisper, "Thou rejectest thy liege Lord and only Saviour." 
He hates the preaching about Christ, not because it is, as he 
pretends, senseless and superstitious, but because there is, as 
has been said, a something unconquerable within him, which, 
notwithstanding all his unbelief, believes, counsels, and 
prompts him to render the homage due, while the man re- 
bels and will not consent that He should reign over him, 
who gives His followers and disciples to anticipate through 
life self-denial instead of enjoyment, and a cross instead of 
honour and renown. 

But there was another heavy burden which weighed upon 
the high priests and scribes besides the ban and curse of 
conscience. It was a gloomy solicitude lest the crime which 
they had perpetrated on the Nazarene should after all, 



4 



EASTER-EVEN. 



through some new marvel, entail on them the brand of in- 
famy, and cause them to be for ever pilloried in history. 
True it is, they did not verbally express as much, but their 
tone was as if they feared that some feigned miracle invented 
by the followers of the murdered man should prove prejudi- 
cial to them. They recollected perfectly well that Jesus had 
expressly and repeatedly intimated that He should die by 
murderous hands, but that on the third day He should rise 
again. Hypocritically concealing their real anxiety, they say 
amongst themselves, "What if the disciples of the Galilean 
should conceive the purpose of secretly bearing away the 
body from its tomb, and then persuade the people that their 
Master had come to life again % What would the effect of 
this be upon us ? Every precaution must be used to prevent 
such a fraud as this." And they all concur in this sugges- 
tion. But in what mode could they successfully prevent the 
disciples from following this course? They take counsel to- 
gether, and their practised subtlety in all the arts of lying 
soon discovered the means. 

I here observe, in passing, that several critics have ques- 
tioned the historical truth of the whole story, because they 
did not see how it could be possible that such members of 
the high council as a Nicodemus, a Joseph of Arimathea, 
and a Gamaliel, should ever have yielded their assent to so 
malignant a scheme as the one there planned. And, indeed, 
I myself likewise have held this to be impossible. But, in 
the first place, we do not read that these transactions were 
resolved on in a regularly-convened, full assembly of the 
Sanhedrim, but, on the contrary, everything would seem to 
indicate rather a tumultuous meeting, not of the whole body, 
but of a part, and that indeed made up of the most malevo- 
lent members of the council. For, doubtless, the two first 
named, Nicodemus and Joseph, would, together with their 
public formal protest against the judicial murder, have 



EASTEK-EVEK 



5 



solemnly sent in their resignation as members, and would 
hence have no longer been present at the deliberations, or 
been cognisant of the subsequent projects of their former 
unrighteous associates. In this way the above-mentioned 
doubt is simply and easily cleared up, and it will be no less ■ 
easily solved should it arise again in reference to a later 
transaction — I allude to the bribery of the guard appointed 
to watch the sepulchre. 

The chief priests and elders repair to the governor. Not- 
withstanding the undoubtedly early hour, Pilate, who like- 
wise had passed a sleepless night, granted them at once the 
desired audience. Upon his inquiry as to their prayer, they 
disclose their project, and say, with feigned loyalty, " Sir, we 
remember that that deceiver, of whose presence we, with 
your approval, have freed the country, while he was yet alive, 
expressly declared that he would, after three days, rise again." 
Beloved, let us pay great attention to this speech of the elders 
of Israel. Jesus, then, really said that He would rise again 
on the third day. Let us take note of this testimony from 
His enemies and most bitter opponents. It must be of 
great importance to us to hear it attested and confirmed as 
a notorious fact, that our Lord really, and in the most un- 
equivocal manner, announced beforehand the glorious issue of 
His martyrdom. The members of the Sanhedrim further say 
to Pilate, " Command therefore the sepulchre be made sure 
until after the third day, in order that his disciples may not 
come and steal the body, and subsequently say to the people, 
He is risen from the dead ; so the last error shall be much 
worse than the first." Now, we have already learnt how to 
interpret this language, and to supply what is not expressed. 
They require the guard much less with reference to the dis- 
ciples, than with relation to our Lord himself. Pilate will- 
ingly grants their prayer, for to him the assurance would be 
rather alarming that the man who, when standing before 



6 



EASTER-EVEN. 



his bar, so powerfully impressed him, should have spoken of 
His resurrection with such precision. " Take the guard," 
says the governor, (referring, as it appears, to his own body- 
guard ;) and adds, " go, make the grave as sure as you can." 
And they did so. The guard is taken to Joseph's garden — 
it is placed before the sepulchre of the Crucified One — the 
stone wliich closes the tomb is sealed, in order that any vio- 
lent opening of it may be punished as sacrilege ; that is to 
say, as the violation of a sanctuary, which would subject 
the perpetrators to criminal proceedings. 

You will now understand in what sense I characterised 
these precautionary measures of the enemies of Jesus as an 
involuntary preparation by them for the celebration of Easter. 
In the midst of their misgivings and apprehensions, Christ 
actually arose. After all that they had seen and experienced 
respecting Him, they would fain have withheld from them- 
selves all conscious acknowledgment of what they really 
thought Him to be, as indeed the man who possibly might 
suddenly raise Himself alive again from His death-chamber. 
And thus, whilst wearing the hypocritical mask of resolute 
unbelief, they, through the powerful impressions which His 
own personality had graven into them, rendered Him invo- 
luntary homage as a hero possibly superior to the king of 
terrors, to death itself. They unwillingly paid homage to 
the Prince of Life. Let our preparation, however, for the 
feast be of a better character. 

II. We enter Joseph's garden, and are seized with the 
tremor of a foreboding awe. There lies the holy sepulchre, 
surrounded by the armed watch. The stone door is firmly 
cemented and sealed. But what matters this ? The firmer 
the bolts, the more conspicuously will it be shewn who broke 
them, and even here could make for Himself a free passage. 
The world has ofttimes seen the Lord Jesus imprisoned and 
immured in a spiritual sense. Imperial seals, as that of 



EASTEE-EVEN. 



7 



Julian the Apostate ; philosophical seals, as that of Spinoza, 
and many others after him ; republican seals, which recall the 
formal abolition of Christianity at the time of the French 
Revolution ; — these made the dungeon, in which it was fondly 
thought Christ was shut up, to appear closed for ever, as if' 
no power could possibly break it open. But ere they were 
aware, He, whom they thought had been got rid of for ever, 
burst all the prison-cells, as He has in our own days that of 
Rationalism, in which they insanely fancied Him entombed, 
3 T id He now stands victor upon the arena, crowned both in 
the Church and in the seats of learning. Who can confine 
Him 1 

There, in the dark vault, lies the body of the Lord of hea- 
ven, soulless ! Oh, what depth of humiliation ! But let us 
not overlook the bright torches which God has placed beside 
Him ; first of all, in the prophetic passage of Isaiah liii. 9, 
" And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich 
in his death and then that in the words of the royal 
Psalmist, " Thou, Lord, wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see 
corruption/' (Ps. xvi. 10.) And what do we read, with the 
eye of the spirit, on the stone which closes the entrance of 
His sepulchre? His own fingers inscribed it, and it runs 
thus : — " Verily, verily I say unto you, Except a corn of 
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; but if 
it die, it bringeth forth much fruit/' (John xii. 24.) Oh, do 
but wait, the great harvest-day is at hand ! 

The rocky tomb of our Lord would become a reef on 
which our entire faith in Providence would founder, if we 
regarded Christ's appearance here on earth as simply on His 
own account, and not rather as the head and representative 
of humanity. In that case He would never, as eocpiator of' 
sin, have shared the lot of man even to death ; or we should, 
with Him, have seen the whole Divine administration sink 
likewise, and even God himself, as a Person and the righteous 



s 



EASTEK-EVEN. 



Ruler together, annihilated and entombed for ever ! But as 
His tomb now gives irresistible testimony to His mediatorial 
position, so it transforms the tombs of His people into sta- 
tions whence they make their transition to new and more 
blissful spheres of life. For the path taken by the Head is 
necessarily that followed by the members ; and that which 
the first Adam br-j tight down to the dust with himself, the 
second restores in Ois own person out of the ruins. It is true 
that our flesh, corrupted by sin, is not saved from the trans- 
muting process of decay. The Almighty has uttered His 
sentence with reference to us, " Dust thou art, and to dust 
shalt thou return." But no less authoritative than the pre- 
ceding is the following one, " It is sown in corruption ; it 
i& raised in incorruption." An atom, though invisible to 
mortal eye, is preserved by the Almighty as the germinal 
frame of our undying body, on which at some future day the 
Divine agency will be made manifest, by which He, as the 
Scriptures declare, "makes all things subject unto Himself." 

The stone-vault before which we stand contains only the 
body of our Lord. Where is His spirit? We have heard 
Him give the dying thief the solemn assurance, " To-day 
shalt thou be with me in paradise/' In 1 Pet. iii. 19, 20, 
the apostle testifies that " after Christ had been put to 
death in the flesh" — that is to say, in His humanity, — He 
was " quickened in the Spirit/' and raised to a higher, less- 
restricted, and freer sphere, and that " in this Spirit also 
He went and preached unto the spirits in prison, who some- 
time were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God 
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing!' 
In the Apostles' Creed we find the passage, " He descended 
into hell," following the word " buried." This latter testi- 
mony manifestly refers to the above quotation from Peter ; 
and not only so, but it is based upon it. Therefore the 
expression, " hell" is here used as synonymous with the 



EASTER-EVEN. 



9 



word "prison!' But it is impossible that the latter can be 
identical with the " paradise " which is spoken of in 2 Cor. 
xii. 2-4, as being one and the same with "the third heaven." 
And again, paradise, though a sphere of bliss, appears to be 
different from that highest heaven where God is seen face 
to face, and which our Lord had in His eye when in His 
later testimony He says, " i* have not yet ascended to my 
Father ; " it is subordinate, or at least secondary, to this ; 
and we must therefore conceive of a heavenly vestibule where 
the redeemed had to wait the real ascension into heaven, the 
bodily one, of their glorified Mediator, in order to enter with 
Him the open gates of the city of God, and to attain the full 
possession of their eternal inheritance. To this antechamber 
Christ in spirit, while His body remained in the tomb, led 
the penitent thief, and then presented Himself to preach to 
the spirits in prison. We are left utterly without intimation 
where this latter place is situated ; but still it is not to be 
confounded with the abode of the damned. The great re- 
former, Calvin, thought he could avoid the descent into hell 
altogether, whilst he explained the passage in Peter thus : — 
Christ had exhorted Noah's contemporaries to repent, whilst 
they were yet in the flesh, through the Holy Ghost by Him 
imparted to Noah, the preacher of righteousness. This ex- 
position, however, is too artificial to commend itself to an 
impartial mind. It is invalidated at once by the expression, 
" He descended," which cannot well betoken anything other 
than local motion, as it does afterwards in the 22d verse of 
the chapter alluded to. We have no intimation of the topics 
upon which He preached to the " spirits in prison/' whether 
repentance, or His own triumph. But it may, however, well 
be presumed that amongst the souls that were hurried away 
by the flood, there were not a few who, if not converted, were 
nevertheless not far from the kingdom of God. Was the 
way to full regeneration now opened up to them % This is 



10 



EASTEE-EVEN. 



conceivable. But under any circumstances, that descent of 
Christ in spirit was not associated with His state of humilia- 
tion, but already formed the transition to His state of exalta- 
tion : still less is it to be viewed as a complement of His 
mediatorial and propitiatory work, for this had seen its full 
accomplishment just prior to the moment when, commending 
His spirit into His Father's hands, He victoriously exclaimed, 
" It is finished." But we should grasp at more than would 
become us, were we, from a fact of which Peter gives so mys- 
terious an intimation, to deduce consequences which might 
to some extent paralyse the zeal with which we ought to 
strive, on this side eternity, to make preparation for heaven. 
A subject of consolation for the heathen to whom God's 
Word has never come on earth, may be drawn from this 
consideration, but certainly none for us who have the gospel. 

Thus we have not to seek the Lord himself in His tomb, 
but only His human frame, His earthly pilgrim Vgarment. 
He is traversing in the spirit other regions. Is His resur- 
rection, therefore, nothing more than the reunion of the Son 
of God with His entombed body ? Yes, it is so, only He 
reassumes this body in a glorified condition. It is true that 
it is difficult, nay impossible, for our short-sighted faculties 
to realise this representation. The bodily organisation de- 
stroyed by crucifixion must first be reinstated by creative 
power, and, beside this, be spiritualised as the organ of the 
God-man, who was now disconnected from the sublunary 
sphere of life. Indeed, this actually was accomplished, but 
the mode in which it was so remains an unsolved problem. 
I might here adduce something similar and analogous to the 
reunion of the spirit with the body previously deserted by 
Him. The condition of the clairvoyant, in whom all the 
bodily functions are suspended, as in death, whilst the mind 
for a season wanders as spectator and observer through dis- 
tant scenes, and then returns in one moment to its deserted 



EASTEE-EVEN. 



II 



body, might be adduced as one analogous to, and corre- 
sponding with, the reunion of His spirit with His previously 
deserted body. But let us be careful, lest we confound the 
natural and the supernatural with one another. The sub- 
ject in question being the resurrection of Christ, we are in 
the province of miracles ; and precisely as Scripture teaches 
that it is only "by faith that we understand the worlds were 
made by the word of God," so the miracle of the resurrec- 
tion of our Lord, in all its parts, is given only to our faith. 

The great day, however — the greatest which the world 
has seen — knocks at the stone door of the holy sepulchre. 
Now let us for a short time ponder over the Almighty's 
plan of redemption, as revealed by Moses and the prophets, 
in its connexion. From so elevated a point of view the 
resurrection of the Mediator will appear to us a necessity, 
imposing silence on all our doubts. After this day's pre- 
paration, we shall with childlike simplicity, and with unem- 
barrassed, joyous hope, prepare ourselves for that immea- 
surably happier one which awaits us, and shall say with the 
Moravian poet : — 

" J esus, of all life the Lord, 
Shall He in death decay ? 
Jesus, the Holy One of God, 
Shall He corruption see ? 
Morning's fragrance ! 
Easter breeze ! 
E'en now I feel Thy gentle niotloti, 
«2d will rise again ! Amen," 



12 



THE MIRACLE OF EASTEB. 



IL 

THE MIRACLE OF EASTER 

" Easter is God's Amen and the Hallelujah of humanity/' 
It is scarcely possible that the lofty significance of the glo- 
rious event to the close consideration of which we this day 
draw near, can be more strikingly indicated than by this 
well-known expression.* This truth is sown broadcast 
throughout Scripture, and especially in the utterance of the 
apostle Peter, (Acts v. 30, 31,) where it is clearly attested, 
— " This J esus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him 
hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and 
a Saviour," — that is to say, has publicly accredited and 
crowned Him as such. By the miracle of Easter the 
Almighty stamped an imperishable seal — one the splendour 
of which shone throughout the universe — upon the dignity, 
words, and work of His only-begotten Son, and uttered 
His " Yea " and " Amen," confirmatory of the testimony of 
the Son that He was " the way, the truth, and the life," and 
of His triumphant exclamation, "It is finished!" intelligibly 
to heaven, earth, and hell. Humanity finds that it has 
attained the object of its boldest expectations and longings. 
Infinitely more has been prepared for it, and secured to it, 
than it ever dared to hope. After its eternal redemption 
had been accomplished, it was then actually declared, by the 
authority of the Most High, to be perfected. There thence- 

* From the late Bishop Draesecke, of Magdeburg. 



THE MIRACLE OF EASTEE. 



13 



forth remained to the highly-favoured race of man nothing 
further than a never-ending hallelujah — "Now unto Him 
that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we 
ask or think !" 

In these few words we see hastily sketched those truths 
which will constitute for a season the green pastures in 
which the Good Shepherd will feed our souls. Isaiah pre- 
dicted that " the redeemed of the Lord should come up to 
Zion with songs." This prediction is fulfilled since the 
announcement, " The Lord is risen/' has resounded through- 
out the world. " He is really risen ! " May it find a full 
echo in our hearts ! 

Matt, xxviii. 1-4, 11-15. 

" In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of 
the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulchre. 
And, behold, there was a great earthquake : for the angel of the Lord 
descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, 
and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment 
white as snow : and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as 
dead men." ..." Now, when they were going, behold, some of the watch 
came into the city, and shewed unto the chief priests all the things that 
were done. And when they were assembled with the elders, and had taken 
counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers, saying, Say ye, His dis- 
ciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept. And if this come 
to the governor's ears, we will persuade him, and secure you. So they took 
the money, and did as they were taught : and this saying is commonly 
reported among the Jews until this day." 

" Shine, oh shine, thou Easter sun, 

Deep into my heart ; 
Dissipate the heavy shades 

Of its care and smart ! 
Shine with ray of j urest light, 

Flashing death's dark vale upon ; 
Brightly gild my soul's dark night — 

Easter sun, shine on ! shine on ! " 



This, beloved, is the key-note of the feelings with which I 
hail the great event, and which are called forth by the Gospel 



THE MIEACLE OF EASTEE. 



just read. How few and how simple are the words in which 
it is conveyed to us. But they remind us of a fresco by a 
great artist, when, by a few bold and rapid strokes, to our 
astonishment we perceive the creation of an entire and ani- 
mated painting. Yet no human art can compete with the 
divine truthfulness of colouring which here strikes the eye. 
We at once see that we stand on the sure basis of historical 
fact. Let us, with thoughtful spirits, approach still nearer 
to the most exalted and consolatory fact in the world's his- 
tory, and consider the miracle, first, in its historical details; 
secondly, as to its perfect credibility; and lastly, as to its 
high and glorious import. 

As a blessing upon our meditations, may the words of the 
Psalmist be fulfilled in us — " The voice of rejoicing and sal- 
vation is in the tabernacles of the righteous : the right hand 
of the Lord doeth valiantly, the right hand of the Lord is 
exalted; the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly!'' (Ps. 
cxviii. 15, 16.) 

I. A beautiful Sunday morning here dawns, and scatters 
its pearls of dew on the springtide flowers. The world still 
lies in deep slumbers, never dreaming what a sun is about to 
rise upon the horizon of its life. But our Lord's disciples 
and friends have not closed their eyes throughout the night ; 
they have passed it in weeping and lamentation, and partly 
in preparing to discharge the most painful service of love 
on their return to the garden, which they had left at the 
beginning of the Sabbath. In spirit we anticipate their 
arrival. A profound solemn stillness reigns all around, 
broken only by the tread of the guards as they pace back- 
wards and forwards before the tomb of the crucified Prince 
of Peace. The second night since Good Friday has passed 
without any disturbance , apparently there is as little prob- 
ability of a resurrection of the deceased as there is of an attack 
by the adherents and friends of the Crucified One. The 



THE MIRACLE OP EASTER. 



15 



grave lies mute and closed before us ; its seal remains un- 
broken. It would seem that the reign of the pretended new 
King of Zion was gone by for ever. But what now ! On 
a sudden the earth begins to tremble — the rocks are rent 
asunder all around with fearful crash — superhuman forms, 
bright as lightning, and in garments white as snow, glide 
down from the heights of heaven to the garden. They are 
holy angels, like those who appeared at our Lord's nativity, 
and who came to minister to Him after His victory over the 
tempter in the desert. One of these gracious messengers 
approaches the tomb, touches the mass of rock which held 
it closed, and in a moment the seals are burst, the ponderous 
stone is rolled away, and from the opened portal of the grave 
there steps forth, radiant with heavenly glory, He who was 
dead ! — and, behold, " He lives, and bears the keys both of 
hell and of death ! " The guards, indeed, scarcely discern the 
Risen One. The dazzling robe of light which He wears hides 
Him from their bewildered sight. The only object they dis- 
tinctly see is the seraph-form sitting in triumph on the 
rolled-away stone, as if it were a throne of state ; and then, 
with inexpressible consternation, trembling in every limb, 
they start up and hasten away to report to their- superiors in 
Jerusalem the unheard-of prodigy that had occurred. Into 
what excitement the whole city would have been thrown by 
their report, had not the noiseless calm of early dawn rested 
on its deserted streets ! They only knock at the doors of the 
rulers, and we shall soon learn what was devised in that con- 
clave to stifle the strange report in its birth. But the new 
life of the Risen One was mightier than all the craft and 
malignity of His adversaries, and escaped, as before from the 
grave, so now from the hold of falsehood within which they 
would fain have once more confined it. Though they con- 
trived by the meanest expedient to stop the mouths of the 
living reporters, yet the dead arose as witnesses to the Easter 



16 



THE MIRACLE OP EASTEE. 



miracle. Many of the pious dead, through whose bodies a 
flash of returning life had thrilled at the moment when the 
powerful Victor's cry, " It is finished !" resounded from the 
cross, came forth from their graves with the Prince of Life, 
awakened by His death-subduing power, " and went into the 
holy city, and appeared unto many/' (Matt, xxvii. 53.) 

What do we say to this great and unique event ? It must 
be understood that we employ here a different standard from 
that of our limited every-day experience, a higher one that 
stands above the earthly order of nature. We find ourselves 
in the domain of miracles. That which is here presented to 
our field of vision comes direct from the power and majesty 
of the Most High. Prom the earthquake, the rending of 
rocks, and the visit of angels, down to the appointed place 
in which, as the evangelist John reminds us, (John xxviii. 7,) 
the napkin and the linen clothes were seen, neatly wrapped 
together, in the empty tomb — all are the immediate working 
of the omnipotence of the personal and living God, whose 
pleasure it was that through these tokens His only-begotten 
Son should, after He had endured the ignominy of the cross, 
be honoured and glorified before the whole world. The 
greatest of all wonders, however, is the Risen One himself. 
Who can comprehend the change which suddenly had passed 
upon Him ? Who can fathom the mystery of His glorified 
nature, of His new being? There He stands before us 
reunited to the body which, two days previously, He had 
left on the cross inanimate. It is the same body which we 
saw bleeding on the tree, and yet no longer the same. A 
spiritual change has likewise taken place in Him, of which 
His subsequent appearances do not permit us for one moment 
to doubt. Where He presents Himself, He does so as the 
result of a definite volition. Without this, His new nature 
would have been veiled to mortal eyes. After He had 
assumed a glorious body, He ate and drank, but He did not 



THE MIRACLE OF EASTEE. 



17 



io so from necessity, but, doubtless, in the same mysterious 
manner in which we saw Him, under the well-known title 
of "the Angel of the Lord," together with His attendant 
angels, eat in the grove at Mamre, when the Lord appeared 
to Abraham. Let no one now ask where the Eisen One 
obtained the mantle with which He appeared invested at 
His exit from the tomb. This question remains an open 
one for our shortsighted understandings, like that of the 
snow-white garments of the angels. Hardly were they the 
product of a loom worked by man. Nor let us inquire where 
the Lord afterwards tarried when He did not manifest Him- 
self to His disciples. We must ever remember that, after 
His resurrection, He had entered into the sphere of a higher 
nature, and, indeed, such an one that the earthly has nothing 
corresponding to place beside it. Moreover, the other mat- 
ters connected with the Easter marvel, which, to our veiled 
eyes, appear enigmatical, will not embarrass or disturb us 
in the least, from the moment we hold the miracle itself to 
be, beyond all contradiction, a grand historical fact. That 
it is such a fact does not admit of one moment's doubt when 
viewed apart from all prejudice. We wish to convince all 
honest seekers for truth in the crowd of doubters around us. 
that Jesus Christ is really risen from the dead : but what 
effect do our arguments produce upon you ? Calmly follow 
us in the discussion of the subject which we are prepared 
to enter upon with you, in order to elicit the truth, and then 
say what historical event was ever confirmed with more 
striking proofs than that of Christ's resurrection. 

II. At Jerusalem, we find the high priests and elders 
already assembled before the first cock-crowing. The tidino-s 
brought by the watch have roused these terrified rulers from 
their beds like an alarm-trumpet. It is true they are not 
all assembled ; Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and pos- 
sibly some others like-minded, are absent. What measures 

B 



18 



THE MIRACLE OF EASTER. 



must be employed now ? If the rumour of what happened 
to the watch be spread, the last error will be worse than the 
first, and the Galilean has triumphed even after death. 
Good advice is not at hand, and, in its stead, they adopt an 
expedient every way bad. As at the private audience on 
the Friday morning they meanly practised bribery, so now 
they employ the same means. The members of the council 
engage themselves to pay large sums of money to the guards 
upon their solemn promise to spread the report among the 
people, that during the night, and whilst they, the guards, 
were asleep, the disciples of the Nazarene came and stole 
away the body of their Master. But what if it should come 
to pass that the Dead should actually present Himself among 
the people? Weil, even then, there remained this evasion, 
that He was only apparently dead when laid in the sepulchre, 
and that, by the employment of secret but effective means, 
He had been recalled to life. But what if the governor be 
informed of the bribery practised? The members of the 
council took upon themselves the responsibility of pacifying 
him on this head, and, moreover, engaged so to manage 
matters, that the guards should incur no punishment for 
their dastardly flight from the grave. Upon this, the guards 
took the wages of iniquity, and did as had been suggested 
to them. Since the Risen One did not again shew Himself 
to the people, the story of the robbery of the tomb was, as 
the evangelist says, " commonly reported among the Jews," 
and, indeed, Matthew adds, "until this day." We, however, 
may apply this expression to the present age, for not only 
do Jews, but with them there are likewise thousands of 
nominal Christians, who still concur in making the same 
« common report." But the thought that Christ is actually 
risen from the dead is indeed so great, and attended with 
such exceedingly happy results, that we incur danger, as did 
the apostles of old, in not believing " for joy." Nevertheless, 



THE MIEACLE OF EASIER. 



19 



it is impossible to deny the event of Easter-tide, without at 
the same time flying in the face of all history; without 
accoutring one's-self in triple brass, to repel the most cogent 
proofs; without entirely renouncing all sound understand- 
ing ; and without stifling and annihilating in one's-self the 
last sparks of susceptibility for historical truth. If it be 
certain that there ever lived a Eoman emperor who bore the 
name of Augustus, — or that a people existed called the Jews, 
who, after they had crucified Christ, were scattered as chaff 
to the four winds of heaven, — or that, once upon a time, the 
Da^on of the Philistines fell before the ark of the covenant, — 
or that the gods of Greece and Eome were hurled from their 
altars before the gospel of the publicans, the fishermen, and 
the tentmakers, — we have still more conclusive evidence j>f 
that fact which, raised as it is immeasurably higher, abo\e 
and beyond all doubt, the whole Church on earth is wont to 
celebrate at Easter with sound of trumpets and song — tf\e 
miracle of the resurrection of Jesus. 

First of all, survey with me the far-reaching chain of 
unequivocal predictions which, link within link, stretches 
through the four thousand years prior to the appearance of 
Christ. Or, will you dare deny that the ancient patriarch* 
of the human race, together with the entire Jewish nation, 
from their origin, placed their hopes on a Messiah who 
would bring salvation, peace, and redemption to them, and 
to the whole human race ? Indeed, were you to do so, every 
Jew would enter the lists against you, and would reproach 
you as both blind and stupid. Open the sacred records of 
that people, and fix your eye upon the sublime form of the 
Saviour which will present itself to you in almost every 
pa^e. Learn in those sacred writings how, when, and where 
" He who should come " was to appear. Behold Him in the 
rep7:esentations of prophecy, as if He were already incarnate, 
walking, actmo*, dom^ si^rs md vmd^r:. behold Him, 



20 



THE MIRACLE OF EASTER. 



further, in that mirror, rejected by His own people, num- 
bered among the transgressors, suffer, bleed, and die, and 
hear the prophet's explanation of it — " for our transgressions, 
for our iniquities." Observe, further, how in the great pro- 
phetic vision, after He has given up His life as a sacrifice, 
has been " taken from judgment," released from death, He is 
at length crowned with honour and glory, and raised to be 
the foundation and corner-stone of a new kingdom — the 
kingdom of grace ; how He then " should prolong His 
days," and how " the pleasure of the Lord should prosper 
in His hands." Then take up the New Testament, and read 
first the four Gospels. What do you discover there? A 
man is born into the world at the precise time, at the fixed 
spot, and of the very family in which, according to prophecy, 
the Messiah should be born. This man, who thus appeared 
publicly, declares Himself to be " He of whom Moses and 
the prophets spake/' He accomplishes all the works and 
wonders of the prophetic type. He corresponds in every 
feature with the Messiah of the Old Testament. He becomes 
the Lamb that bears the sin of the world. He says that 
He is fore- ordained to suffer and to die ; that He shall not, 
however, remain in death, but shall rise again on the third 
day : and He suffers, sheds His blood, and dies, and — " does 
not rise again ! " That were inconceivable, more so even 
than if the trunk of a sound tree, which is in the course of 
progressive development, should suddenly be arrested in its 
growth, and remain a stunted stem, without any head-growth 
or crown at all. The connexion of the prophecy and its 
fulfilment, as well as the gradually progressive course of the 
consecrated, sinless life of the incomparable personage of 
whom we speak, demanded a resurrection from the dead as 
an absolute necessity. If this had not followed, the life of 
Christ would have been the most insoluble riddle in the 
whole history of the world. It would have been like a build- 



THE MIEACLE OF EASTEE. 



SI 



ing framed in all its parts most carefully and perfectly, but 
in which the key-stone had been most unaccountably omit- 
ted; or like^a painting, executed with marvellous ability, 
but from which, however, the hand of the artist was re- 
moved, just before its completion, by the Lord God himself, 
leaving us in astonishment at the mystery of His providence. 
If Scripture did not aver anything concerning the resurrec- 
tion of Jesus, the assertion that part of the gospel must 
have been lost would be perfectly reasonable and warranted. 
The resurrection of Christ thus presents itself as the indis- 
putable sequence of His existence and life up to the time of 
His death. 

But let it be supposed He did not rise again, where could 
the Dead One have remained? Search through the whole 
wide world, and you will discover no place which could have 
concealed Him. Was He in the custody of the Jews? Im- 
possible ! "Would they not subsequently, and especially at 
the splendid triumph of the gospel on the day of Pentecost, 
have brought forth the Dead from His hiding-place, and, by 
the simple exhibition of His body, have achieved with one 
blow the downfall of this hated Christianity. Was his body 
deposited by His disciples in some remote and secret sepul- 
chre ? The Jews allege this even to the present hour, cer- 
tainly in a very dubious manner, feeling, as they must, that 
no one will believe that the disciples would have been able 
to kindle within themselves enthusiasm sufficient to cause 
them to stake not only property, fame, and honour, but even 
dear life itself, for one by whom they had been most wickedly 
deluded and deceived in those blessed hopes which He him- 
self had awakened in them. There remains therefore to 
unbelief, in the third place, only this supposition, that Christ, 
after He had distinctly foretold that He should die, and 
after three days rise again, when taken from the cross was 
not really dead, but only in a deep trance, from which He 



22 



THE MIRACLE OF EASTER. 



awoke exactly on the third day purely by accident. But no 
one can put forward such an opinion without rendering him- 
self liable to be considered as one who merely, to evade the 
pressure of the fact, does not consider the most absurd sup- 
position too irrational as a last resource against his con- 
science and better knowledge. In order not to be obliged to 
surrender the citadel of his unbelief, such a man blows him- 
self up together with his reason and his logic ! Not to say 
that it would have been wonderfully like a miracle if the 
Lord had awoke from His rigid trance exactly on the third 
day, the one which He had appointed for His return to life ; 
the Re-awakened One would soon have had to go the way of 
all flesh, that is to say, must have died : and where could 
He have expired so secretly and obscurely, that neither 
friend nor enemy, Jew nor Christian, should have discovered 
anything about His death? Perhaps He plunged into the 
depths of the sea, or repaired to some remote uninhabited 
island. You see into what contradictions, what absurdities, 
that man falls who refuses to believe the miracle of the 
resurrection. Sound reason does not deny this miracle ; but, 
at its cost, and in opposition to it, a perverse will does, 
refusing to clo homage to Christ, and to submit to His 
sceptre. 

The day of Pentecost is an historical fact. This is beyond 
all question. Believe the baptism of fire by the Holy Spirit 
to be what you will, it is certain that the disciples of Christ 
at Pentecost received such a baptism, and that then and 
there, by the organising of the congregation at Jerusalem, 
the Christian Church on earth was founded. This fact no 
one will controvert. It was Christ, however, who foretold 
this day of Pentecost in the most definite manner, and added 
to this prophecy the important assertion, that, by the out- 
pouring of the Holy Spirit, He should give the first visible 
sign of His elevation to the right hand of the Father. This 



THE MIRACLE OF EASTER. 



23 



sign, therefore, followed. And in the presence of such world- 
wide manifestations of life by the Prince of Peace, as well as 
of nnheard-of miraculous operations, by means of which He, 
in so short a time, by a handful of poor Galileans, drew the 
whole Eoman Empire to His banner, called into existence a 
new spiritual world, in the ordinances, customs, views, and 
ideas of which we all now live, will any one still doubt 
whether this Christ be risen from the dead ? Why should 
you not, then, at once doubt all history, in which — I boldly 
affirm it— hardly anything recorded is so fully confirmed 
and verified as the fact, the memorial of which we celebrate 
at Easter. The Eirst Epistle to the Corinthians was written 
by Paul, the contemporary of Christ and of all the other 
apostles. This is beyond all contradiction. Even our most 
unbelieving critics do not dare seriously to call it in question. 
But what do we read in this epistle ? Loudly and openly 
before all the world the apostle here testifies, (chap. xv. 6,) 
that the Lord Jesus Christ, after His resurrection, "was 
seen of above five hundred brethren at once ; of whom the 
greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen 
asleep." Any one zealous for the truth, who then doubted, 
might have arrived at certainty in the shortest and surest 
way. But the reality of the resurrection was seriously called 
in question by scarcely any one in the earliest centuries of 
the Christian epoch. On the contrary, the lapse of time 
served but to increase the number of the adherents to the 
Divine Prince of Life. And will you still doubt? Why 
then? Because death is death, and nobody ever returned 
from the grave. So, indeed, you are taught by the history 
of natural science, and hence the common saying of unbe- 
lievers, that the latter will in time entirely unhinge and dis- 
place Christianity. But whence do you derive authority to 
impose a limit upon the development of creative powers by 
the Author of nature, saying, u Thus far shalt thou go, and 



24 



THE MIEACLE OF EASTEE. 



no further," and to regard those laws by which nature is 
now sustained as fetters by which the Creator's hands are 
bound ? Poor purblind mortals ! Because in the present 
day no sinful child of Adam rises from the dead, do you 
conclude that the Son of God, the Sinless One, could not 
vanquish that death which He incurred on our account ? A 
more foolish conclusion than this I cannot conceive. Away 
with it ! You wilfully blind your eyes that you may not 
see, because you feel that, to be consistent, you must accept 
not only the resurrection of Christ, but many other things 
likewise ; that you must not only give up and renounce 
much, but must give to your whole life another, a higher, 
and a more spiritual direction. 

III. And that you doubtless must. For if Christ rose 
again from the dead on the third day, He is your divinely- 
accredited King and Lord ; and so long as you withhold from 
Him homage, and do not render Him obedience, both in 
body and soul, you are rebels, obnoxious to punishment, 
without excuse. The confirmatory seal of the Most High 
shines upon all that He has revealed, taught, and ordained, 
and those who delay even for one moment to bow beneath 
His sceptre, are stigmatised as rebellious subjects. Did the 
Eternal Euler raise His Son, crowned with glory and honour, 
from the dust of death ? — then this latter is by such glorious 
exaltation proved to be the Redeemer of the world with 
power; and at the same time our natural condition is repre- 
sented to be so hopelessly ba<i chat it could be relieved only 
by the unexampled manifestations of grace. But who would 
be concerned for such a sinner ? for he strives with all his 
might against the requirement that he should be simply in- 
debted for his salvation to the merits of another, to the 
righteousness of a Mediator. And precisely because men 
have an idea of the consequences incident to faith in the 
resurrection of Christ, they reject it ; and maintain, in oppo- 



THE M1EACLE OF EASTER. 



25 



sition to the voice of truth sounding loudly within them, 
that the sun in clear broad day, though brightly shining 
overhead, is not to be found in the heavens at all. 

But it is to be hoped you are not among the number of 
those who wilfully evade a truth which is fitted to transform 
this earthly valley of the shadow of death into the portal of 
Paradise. I assume that your need of grace, peace, and a 
certain hope of everlasting life has made your eye single, 
and quickened your apprehension of the reality and glory of 
the Saviour's resurrection. Ye blessed ones ! what a stream 
of comfort and of joy issues for you from the open grave in 
Joseph's garden ! Oh say, after what are your aspirations ? 
Is it after a Prince of Peace, whose brow God himself has en- 
circled with the diadem of honour ? — a Kedeemer who, under 
His own hand and seal, has attested that He has " blotted 
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and 
taken it out of the way?" (Col. ii. 14) — a Friend quite as 
powerful as He is condescending, in whom you may im- 
plicitly confide, on whose breast you may gently lean, into 
whose bosom you may shed your tears, and from whose love 
you may always indulge the highest hopes ? — a Surety who, 
from His own experience, can satisfy you that death to the 
believer involves nothing further than being raised to the 
vision of God and glorification in the heavenly state ? All 
this you have, and infinitely more, in Him who hails you 
from the ruins of His riven tomb, with His " Peace be unto 
you ! " — the first morning salutation of a new life. Oh, fall 
at His feet in adoration and homage, whose resurrection 
already spreads the dawn of a heavenly day over your earthly 
existence Open wide — and surely this can be no difficult 
matter — the portals of your heart to Him, that He may enter 
therein with the plenitude of His Easter consolations ; and 
whithersoever you go or stay, released from cares, and hav- 
ing banished fears, with your inner soul attuned to perfect 



26 



THE MIEACLE OF EASTER. 



harmony by the exulting message, " The Lord is really 
risen," re-echo the triumphant song of the poet : — 

" The Lord is risen again ! 
Where is now the death-sting ? 
Where, grave, the victory ? 
Thanks to God, and praise and blessing, 
Christ for us hath risen — 
Christ, that lives in heaven, 
Hath to us the victory given ! 
To the skies 
See Him rise ! 
There, through Him, we follow I 
Farewell, death and sorrow 1 Amen.* 4, 



THE EMPTY GEAVE. 



27 



m 

THE EMPTY GRAVE. 

The mere existence of the Christian Church is the mightiest 
evidence of the truth of the resurrection of Christ. It would 
not have existed if Christ had not risen ; and he who denies 
the resurrection believes in an absurdity, and accepts effects 
which have no causes. No doctrine of the Christian Church 
so clearly shews that the root of unbelief is to be found 
oftener in the heart than in the understanding, as that of the 
resurrection of Christ. Dispute with unbelievers concerning 
every other doctrine or fact of the Christian religion, and it 
is possible that, even though the point be not settled, you 
may leave off peaceably and pleasantly. But if you urge 
upon them evidences of the historical truth of the resurrec- 
tion, they will part from you embittered and angry. Why 
this ? Because they cannot escape the painful feeling that 
here all the weapons of their critical acuteness refuse to do 
them service, and the inward judge inexorably sentences 
them as men who wilfully shut themselves out from the 
truth against their better knowledge and convictions. When 
Peter, in his defence before the council, as reported in Acts 
v. 30, reminded them of Jesus' resurrection, and, in discuss- 
ing its truth, appealed to his own ocular testimony as well 
as that of his fellow-disciples, and likewise to the outpouring 
of the Holy Spirit, by which latter event the Lord had prac- 
tically authenticated His exaltation to be " a Prince and 



28 



THE EMPTY GRAVE. 



Saviour of Israel," his judges were "cut to the heart/' — that 
is to say, they were enraged, and combated that which they 
were unable to resist, with insolent defiance and wilful obdu- 
racy. Gamaliel alone perceived that this was not the right 
way to combat, but that where truth held the field it was 
more becoming to bow to her, whatever it might cost. May 
the honesty which characterised Gamaliel be, by God's grace, 
imparted to us, and may it accompany us throughout the 
whole course of our Easter meditations ! May it not be 
denied us to-day ! 

Matt, xxviii. 5, 8; Mark xvi. 1-8 ; Luke xxiv. 1-12 ; John xx. 1-11. 

" Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, when 
it was yet dark, came Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and 
Salome, and others with them, unto the sepulchre, bringing sweet spices 
which they had prepared that they might embalm him. And they said 
among themselves, Who shall roll xis away the stone from the door of the 
sepulchre ? But when they looked, they saw that it was rolled away, for 
it was very large. And they entered in, but found not the body of the 
Lord Jesus. And, as they were much perplexed concerning it, behold, 
there stood by them two men in shining garments ; and they saw a young 
man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment ; and they 
were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth. But the angel an- 
swered and spake to the women, Fear not ye ; I know ye seek Jesus who 
was crucified. But why seek ye the living among the dead ? He is not 
here : he is risen, as he said. Come see the place where the Lord lay. 
But go quickly, tell his disciples and Peter that he is risen from the dead. 
Eemember how he spake to you when he was yet in Galilee : The Son of 
man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and 
the third day rise again : and behold he goeth before you into Galilee ; there 
shall ye see him. Lo, I have told you. And they remembered his words, 
and went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre ; for they trembled and 
were amazed : neither said they anything to any one, for they were afraid. 
But they told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest ; but 
their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not. 
Mary Magdalene cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple whom 
Jesus loved, and said unto them, They have taken the Lord away out of 
the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him. Peter there- 
fore went forth, and that other disciple, and they came to the sepulchre ; 
and so they did both run together, but that other disciple did outrun 



THE EMPTY GEAVE. 



29 



Peter, and came first to the sepulchre ; and he stooped down, and looking 
in, he saw the linen clothes lying, yet went he not in. Then cometh 
Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the 
linen clothes lie, and the napkin that had been about his head not lying " 
with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself. Then 
that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, went in also, and he 
saw, and believed. For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must 
rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again together." 

The primary incidents in connexion with our Lord's 
deserted tomb are thus narrated in the combined accounts 
of the evangelists, reported partly from their own observa- 
tion, and partly from that of the female disciples. Where 
are now the irreconcilable discrepancies in their representa- 
tions, which, according to the utterances of unbelief, annihi- 
late the doctrine of the inspiration of the sacred writers, 
and expose them so palpably, that, at least with reference to 
the report before us, we are no longer on historic ground ? 
I am unable to discover these contradictions. That Matthew 
and Mark only mention one angel as having spoken, whilst f 
Luke and John speak of a second as having done so like- 
wise, will hardly be considered a contradiction by any one. 
Mark's deviation from the other accounts appears more im- 
portant, in stating that the women, when hastening back, 
told no one, whereas the other evangelists distinctly say that 
they told the disciples all that had happened to them. But 
let it be only supposed that the women told their secret to 
no one whom they met on the way — that they at first, partly 
from consternation, partly from joy, concealed it for a while 
even from the apostles ; in this case Mark's account is no less 1/ 
accurate than that of Matthew, Luke, and John. But the 
greatest difficulty is presented in the circumstance that Mary 
Magdalene, who at early dawn joined the women going out, 
neither saw the angels at the same time as they did, nor 
heard their message, nor learned their errand. But the 
solution of the enigma is at hand, if we only — and what 



30 



THE EMPTY GEAVE. 



should hinder us ? — present the matter to ourselves in the 
following manner. Assuredly Mary Magdalene went out of 
Jerusalem with the other women, but, prompted by her quick 
temperament and impulsive habit, she rushed on before the 

N others, taking probably some nearer bypath. Immediately 
upon her entering the garden, she, to her great consterna- 
tion, observed that the sepulchre was shattered ; and without 
tarrying for a moment, she hastened back to the city by the 
same path by which she had gone there, and tolcl Peter and 
John that the body of our Lord had been carried off ; hav- 

\ ing done which, she at once returned to the tomb with the 
two disciples. It was during this interval that those inci- 
dents transpired which happened to her friends in the garden 
of Joseph. They may, indeed, have left our Lord's tomb 
before Mary Magdalene and her companions had reached it. 

, When the latter ( to their no small grief, had convinced them- 
selves that Mary Magdalene's report was correct, they forth- 
with returned to Jerusalem, whilst she, abandoned to grief, 
stopped at the tomb ; and it was then and there that she was 
favoured with the sight of the Risen One, concerning which 
we shall hear more anon. This appearance was followed by 

, that described in Matt, xxviii. 9, 10, in which her friends 
were cheered by our Lord's presenting Himself to them, the 
meeting taking place probably in a spot near the city. Or, 
in the above-mentioned passage, did Matthew only concisely 
relate that of which John gives a more detailed account? 
(chap. xx. 11-17.) And, in his short narrative, did Matthew 
assign to all the women those incidents which occurred to 
Mary Magdalene only ? Many accept this version, and with 
its adoption the whole narrative of the evangelists is cleared 
from all perplexity. But, indeed, so it is without it. If we 
only can conceive the collocation of events to have been such 
as we have just represented, the harmony of the fourfold 
testimony is firmly established against all objections. 



THE EMPTY GEAVE. 



31 



Now let us pass in review the different features of this 
highly suggestive picture. And first of all, let the mind's 
eye be attentively directed to the women setting out at 
early daivn ; secondly, to the incidents which befell them at 
the sepulchre; thirdly, their report to the assembled dis- 
ciples; as also, fourthly, the issue of their communication. 

You remember that when the corpse was deposited in 
Elisha's tomb, it revived. In a spiritual sense, may we 
experience something similar ! with this difference, however, 
that the effect wrought in us may be as much greater as the 
tomb we are now about to visit is greater, more sublime, and 
holier than was that of the prophet of Abei-Meholah. 

I. Night still rested upon the holy city, and a gleam of 
dawn was visible in the distance, when by its aid a heart- 
affecting sight is presented to us in its quiet, deserted streets. 
It is the approach of the veiled procession. We recognise 
it as consisting of the female disciples of the crucified Lord. 
They move along with heads bowed low and eyes red with 
weeping. They have passed the night sleepless, or disquieted 
with unpleasant dreams ; and now, as the Sabbath is over, 
they are silently moving towards the garden of Joseph, with 
their fine linen, their wreaths, and their spices, in order to 
render the last offices of love to the dear remains of their 
departed Friend, which had been interrupted when He was 
laid in the tomb. Most of them are already known to you. 
You see among them Johanna, wife of Chuza, an official of 
Herod the king ; Salome, the richly blessed mother of Zebe- 
dee's children, the two apostles, J ohn and James ; the three 
Marys — Mary, wife of Cleopas, and mother of James the 
Less and of Joses ; another Mary, perhaps Mary of Bethany, 
sister of Lazarus and Martha ; and Mary Magdalene, who 
had been saved as a brand from the fire, and now burns with 
more fervent affection than all the others for her beloved 
Saviour. Mary, the mother of the Lord, is not in the 



32 



THE EMPTY GEAVE. 



funeral procession. Crushed by the terrible blow which she 
has experienced, this sorely-afflicted one remains bathed in 
tears under the roof of her adopted son, John. But we 
rejoice that our last view of her is not in this hour of sorrow. 
[ We find her on the day of Pentecost abundantly comforted ; 
happy once more, truly happy ; and when she shortly after- 
wards disappears from our view, we will know where to look 
for the " highly-favoured one." 

The sorrow-stricken women move silently along. It is 
not until they have nearly reached the garden that a petty 
care unseals their lips, and we hear them say, " Who will 
remove the stone for us from the mouth of the sepulchre ? " 
Thus all their wishes and desires resolved themselves into 
this trivial solicitude. Considering the unequivocal pro- 
phecies which they had repeatedly heard from the mouth of 
their Master, this seems hardly conceivable. But the fearful 
and bloody end of His life must have fallen like a terrific, 
devastating hailstorm upon the harvest-field of their hopes 
and recollections. Even supposing the inexpressible con- 
sternation into which they had been thrown to have left 
them adequate opportunity and self-possession to remember 
what He had heretofore said most unequivocally, in reference 
to His resurrection after His previous crucifixion, yet they 
must have regarded it as a settled matter that they were 
only authorised to give it a sjDiritual meaning, or, at the 
utmost, to apply it to the resurrection at the last day. For 
the present, and for all time, He figured in the range of their 
gloomy and veiled notions but as one of the dead — an 
inanimate corpse. Hence they restricted all their affectionate 
solicitude to one object — gently and reverentially to commit 
His remains to their long sleep in the bosom of the earth. 
Alas ! how many are there now-a-days who, like the women, 
need to have the stone rolled away from the door of their 
Saviour's sepulchre ! To how many who are baptized in 



THE EMPTY GRAVE. 



33 



and called by His holy name, is Christ but a corpse still ! 
Were they but equally distressed and anxious for salvation, 
as were these female disciples now on their way to His tomb, 
surely we might trace an analogy in their subsequent expe- 
rience ! But our risen Lord to this hour withdraws Himself 
\ from all who will not feel their need of Him, from all who 
j are satisfied with their own righteousness. Yes ! their be- 
setting self-love and self-sufficiency work their delusion; they 
are ever seeking the living among the dead, whilst, on the 
contrary, the Church of our God never ceases to ring with 
hallelujahs, simply because He is risen ; and instead of re- 
joicing with believers, saying, " Jesus lives, and I too live 
in him/' and seeing heaven opened to them, they must 
needs repeat the disconsolate commonplace, " No one has 
ever returned from the realms of the dead." Poor souls ! 
how are they to be pitied ! 

II. When these mourners reached the garden, they were 
still occupied with the anxious desire to know " who should 
remove the massive stone from the entrance to the tomb." 
What do they perceive there ? Oh ! what can it mean ? 
Behold ! the stone has already been moved aside, and the 
interior of the tomb lies exposed. But the spectacle plunges 
them in fresh perplexity, The weakness of their faith sug- 
gests that some violence had been practised upon His dear 
remains. Trembling with fearful anticipation, they draw 
near the sepulchre ! Lo ! suddenly there gleams forth from 
it a beam of light like lightning, and by its marvellous bril- 
liancy they discover two figures, young men clad in glittering 
garments, in whom they immediately recognise two beings 
from another world, two angels of God. Do not marvel that 
the resurrection should have been accompanied by such 
extraordinary appearances as these. Without such, as some 
one has truly observed, the resurrection of Christ would 
have been a spring without flowers, a sun without rays, a 

c 



34 



THE EMPTY GEAVE. 



victory without a triumphal wreath. It was right that the 

majesty of the Almighty should be revealed in every possible 
way in connexion with it, and holy angelic beings are truly 
some of the most lovely rays of His glory. Yet they were 
not present for the sake of pageant or parade, but, as on 
every other occasion, so likewise on this, for the sake of 
those who are heirs of salvation. They had been sent as 
heralds, to communicate a message. Scarcely had the women 
recovered from their first astonishment, when one of the 
angels opened his gracious lips, and speaking to the sorrow- 
ful party from within the tomb, said, " Fear not ye : for I 
know that ye seek Jesus, who was crucified. Why seek ye 
the living among the dead ? He is not here. He is risen, 
as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." 

There you have one of the most blessed messages ever yet 
heard on earth. The plain simple form in which it presents 
itself to us at once stamps it with the impress of truth ! The 
mere poet or mythologist would have made the messengers 
of God proclaim more emphatically and ostentatiously an 
event which lighted up earth's dark valley of death with a 
starry firmament of the brightest hopes. But the heavenly 
messengers were intent only upon informing mankind of the 
historical fact, and they left it to the highly-favoured ones 
themselves to celebrate the wonderful event in psalms and 
songs of praise. It cannot escape you that the mode in 
which the angels express themselves proposed nothing be- 
yond announcing, with due emphasis, the reality of the re- 
surrection of Christ, and placing it beyond all doubt. The 
" Crucified One," say they, He whom the women seek in the 
grave, is risen from the dead. Yes ! He Himself arose, and 
that, too, bodily, as He was buried. Here from the place 
where He lay has He raised Himself. Through this open 
stone doorway has He gone forth again alive. " Fear not 
ye" With how much stronger emphasis might that " Fear 



THE EMPTY GRAVE. 



35 



not ye" be proclaimed in this sinful world, than on that 
sacred night when the shepherds on Bethlehem's plains were 
greeted with the same salutation ! For now fear, care, terror, 
and doubt were utterly banished from every secret hiding- 
place. Who would now be disposed to accuse, or who to 
condemn? and what now remained to oppress and terrify 
the poor heart of man ? 

Whether Jesus Christ be really the only-begotten Son of 
the Father, whether His work of mediation be held in the 
Father's eyes to be fully perfected and sufficient for the ex- 
piation of our sins, whether the way of salvation which He 
has pointed out to us be the one leading there surely and 
infallibly, and whether death has been really vanquished 
and paradise regained for us by Him, — all these and many 
other glorious truths beside are now placed by the resur- 
rection beyond doubt. Their affirmation was decided; it 
was most clearly confirmed by the seal of the Most High. 
There is no longer any distressing condition upon earth to 
which the " Fear not ye" of the angels, together with the 
powerful grounds of consolation on which that utterance is 
founded, may not be applied. It brightens the darkest 
nights of sorrow with divine gleams of hope, and banishes, 
at least, the horror of despair from the gloomiest vales of 
life. 

The women feel conscious of the profound significance of 
the angel's exclamation ; but again they are so overcome by 
the greatness of the joyful news thus intimated, that at first 
they can only rejoice with trembling. They stand there 
dumb with wonder. But the heavenly messenger rouses 
them from their torpor, commanding them forthwith to go 
and tell the disciples of the Lord, and especially Peter, that 
their Master had risen, and is alive again. Truly a more 
glorious errand than this was never committed to any mor- 
tal ! That which makes our office, the office of ambassadors 



36 



THE EMPTY GRAVE. 



for Christ, the most delightful on earth, is, that the charge 
committed to the minister of Christ is analogous to that 
given to the women. How enviable would the preacher of 
the gospel be, if the message which he has to declare were 
everywhere and at once believingly received ! How happy 
would the world be made by his presence, dispelling on all 
sides the shadows of sorrow, spreading sunshine over the 
beds of the sick and the dying, and transforming the grave 
itself into a peaceful place of rest, nay, rather, into the gate 
of heaven ! He would be the angel of humanity ; peace 
and joy would ever attend his steps. But, in a majority of 
cases, how long have we to knock at the fast- closed doors of 
the heart, ere it be opened to receive our message ! This 
may be salutary for us as an exercise of humility and of 
prostration in the dust, but the world only excites our 
commiseration. In God's own gracious time, however, we 
are ever and anon encouraged by a specific message to indi- 
viduals, as were these good women who were desired to an- 
nounce a fact to the eleven and to Peter. It was cordially 
received by them all, but especially by Peter. What could 
be more touching, and, at the same time, more elevating, 
than this special mention of the poor fallen disciple ? " Tell 
it to Peter/' It shall be first announced to him ; before all 
others to him, weeping in retirement, overcome with peni- 
tence and shame. No one was so near to the heart of the 
risen Saviour as he was. I ask again, could there be any- 
thing more touching, and, at the same time, more consola- 
tory, than this more than motherly tenderness of the Lord of 
lords for His contrite, broken-hearted Simon ? Together with 
the notification of the resurrection, the women were desired 
to remind the eleven of a previous utterance of their Master, 
according to which He engaged that, after His resurrection, 
He would go before them into Galilee. The angel expressly 
told the women this, and emphasised His words, adding, 



THE EMPTY GRAVE. 



37 



"Lo, I have told you!" These female disciples, agitated 
with inexpressible emotions, and perhaps yet doubtful whe- 
ther they were awake or only under the illusion of a pleasant 
dream, hasten back to the city. They encounter several 
persons on their road, but, maintaining strict silence, they 
hasten by them, keeping their secret locked up in their 
breasts. 

Hi. But we will leave them for a few moments, and turn 
our attention to another incident. We know already that at 
early dawn, when the women had scarcely reached the pre- 
cincts of the city, Mary Magdalene, whose temperament most 
resembled Peter's, had hastened before them, on wings of 
impatience, by a shorter road. To see the open and empty 
tomb, and to hasten back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples 
the alarming news, were to her but one operation. She met 
John, and his friend Peter, in the city, and gave them as a 
sad morning salutation the sorrowful news, " They have taken 
away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where 
they have laid him," (John xx. 2.) At this news the two 
hurried away to the garden ; and Mary Magdalene returning 
scarcely was outrun by them. They arrived there just as the 
other women had left the sacred spot ; they actually found 
everything as Mary had informed them. The stone was 
rolled away, and the grave was empty. John arrived there 
first ; but either from tender awe, or fear that his feelings 
would be too much for him, he did not enter the tomb, 
though, from a little distance, he looked into it, and saw the 
linen clothes in which the beloved remains had been wrapped. 
Peter, on the other hand, to search out the matter, entered 
the sepulchre, and we know what there met his eye. Folded, 
as by a careful hand, lay the napkins and linen clothes in 
one place, and in another, folded also smoothly and carefully, 
lay the napkin which had been bound round our Lord's 
bleeding head. Then John wished to see it also, and rever- 



38 



THE EMPTY GEAVE. 



ently, as if his foot were on holy ground, entered the sepul- 
chre. Certainly the napkin thus neatly folded would have 
seemed to them to indicate anything rather than a violent 
abstraction of the body ; but this circumstance was inade- 
quate to suggest more than a fleeting thought of the real 
bodily resurrection of the Lord. This seems incomprehen- 
sible to us, but it actually was so. The Gospel says, "For 
as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again 
from the.dead." And truly they did not know it. If they 
had ever read anything about the victory over death to be 
achieved by the expected Messiah, or had they ever heard 
anything concerning it from the mouth of their Master 
himself, like Mary and Martha just before the approaching 
resuscitation of their brother Lazarus, they lost and dissi- 
pated the real sense by assigning a subtilised and spiritual 
one. They returned despondently from the garden of Joseph 
to Jerusalem, but without their friend Mary Magdalene, who 
could not yet tear herself from His grave who was to her all 
in all. 

The two had just returned home to the other disciples, 
when, possibly some few moments after their arrival, the 
women, whom in our narrative we accompanied for some 
distance on their way home, arrived likewise. We see them, 
in a state of the highest excitement, join the circle of the 
disciples. Here, likewise, their lips are for a while closely 
sealed. Will anything so wonderful be believed? Indeed, 
the fact, as narrated, and which they had to repeat, was to 
them of overwhelming import, and in itself transcendently 
glorious. But joy presently unsealed their lips, and we now 
hear them each vying with the other in animation, relieving 
their full hearts by telling of the marvellous things which 
they had seen and heard. They report that they had been 
favoured with a vision of angels, and then deliver the trans- 
porting message which one of the heavenly heralds had corn* 



THE EMPTY GRAVE. 



39 



mitted to them for the disciples. And they have yet some- 
thing much more important still, to which we shall recur 
later. For they insist upon it, that they have personally 
seen the Lord himself. The disciples hear, but scarcely 
trust their ears. " Angels in their Master's tomb ! And 
assurance from the lips of one of them that the Master is 
risen ! Nay, more than that, an interview with the Eisen 
One himself! Oh, that all this had not transpired under 
the veil of twilight, and that the message had been delivered 
by other lips than those of excited and credulous women ! 
For John and Simon were both there too, and they saw and 
heard nothing of it." With such thoughts as these the 
eleven are exercised, and they do not believe ; or rather let 
me say, they strive against belief. It was just so with the 
other disciples when they heard of it. " For the words of 
( the women/' according to historic record, " appeared to them 
I as idle tales." Poor men ! how little confidence do they 
! shew in the power and love of the living God ; how little 
ability have they to grasp the divine scheme of salvation to 
: be wrought out by Christ ; how limited was their apprehen- 
sion of all that they had heard, during three whole years, 
from the mouth of the Master himself, as to the real object 
of His mission to the world ! Indeed, it is difficult to say 
how far the natural man is carried away from belief in a 
living God constantly operating creatively ; he gets entangled 
in what we style " the unchangeable laws of nature/' And 
up to this very day we cannot get absolutely clear of secret 
doubt, as to whether the resurrection be not a fable, thouoh 
the most cogent arguments for its historical truth be brought 
home to the understanding, unless the Holy Spirit has per- 
fected in us the work of Divine illumination, and has, with 
the pangs of the new birth, thoroughly convinced us that we 
are irrecoverably lost, without a God-man Mediator sacri- 
ficed as a sin-offering for us, and then raised again from the 



40 



THE EMPTY GRAVE. 



dust of death to the glory of a new life. But if the light of 
Pentecost dispel our darkness, it will then truly appear in- 
comprehensible how we should ever have given room to the 
slightest doubt as to an event distinguished by more confir- 
matory seals than any other in universal history. May the 
Lord help us likewise, in the way above indicated, to a right 
belief of the resurrection, and loose the tongue of our hearts, 
so that we may shout with the sacred poet — 

" Emmanuel's glory pledged to me, 
All in all I now possess ; 
Above He keeps a heavenly home 

For my soul in readiness ; 
Though sin and curse hang o'er me still, 
I conquer'd have, and conquer will. 

" Through the world I joyous travel, 

With Christ my strength I'm glad at bouI 

Happy now though waves of trouble 
Still across my bosom roll ! 

Happier when, life's voyage o'er, 

My bark shall rest for evermore ! " 



Christ's first appearance. 



41 



IV. 

CHRIST'S FIRST APPEARANCE. 

That the risen Saviour should, as the apostle Peter ex- 
pressly observes in Acts x. 41, " have appeared not to all the 
people, but only unto ivitnesses chosen before of God" has 
excited in many surprise, and shaken the faith of others. It 
is not difficult, however, to perceive why it was so. In the 
first place, the Lord had brought His ministry to a close ; and 
to a generation that had wilfully and obstinately resisted the 
truth proclaimed by Him, the appearance of the Risen One 
would have been a matter of indifference, and without results. 
On the other hand, if He had shewn Himself again to a 
hostile people, the proverb would only have been verified in 
their experience, which Christ, in the parable of the rich 
man and poor Lazarus, put in Abraham's mouth — " If they 
hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be per- 
suaded though one rose from the dead." Moreover, had it 
come to pass that the people were constrained to admit the 
Risen One was neither a phantom, nor one merely awakened 
out of a trance, but really risen from the dead, the fruit and 
effect of the conviction thus attained would have been but 
idle astonishment, or a blind enthusiasm, or a disposition 
excited in them to make Him a king ; but without a believ- 
ing surrender of the heart to Him. Finally, the purpose 
involved in our Lord's manifestations of Himself during the 
forty days, was simply to crown the faith of believers, to 



42 



cueist's fiest appeaeance. 



spiritualise still more the communion into which they had 
already entered with Him as their Divine Head, and to give 
it a heavenly glorification. This was a purpose which, from 
its nature, could not extend to the great masses who were 
ruled by a worldly spirit. Here that law was brought into 
exercise, " that to him that hath shall be given, and he shall 
have more abundantly." The scenes reported as having 
transpired during the forty days, unveil the outskirts of 
paradise. Here a barrier had necessarily to be erected, and 
the profane were warned to keep their distance. Our Lord 
rejected the service of an extorted faith ; that which He 
accepted was the spontaneous affection of a soul feeling its 
need of salvation. And He did not look around for such in 
vain. We shall presently have an opportunity of convincing 
ourselves of the fact. 

John xx. 11-18. 

" But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping ; and as she wept, 
she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, and seeth two angels in 
white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body 
of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou ? 
She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know 
not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned 
herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 
Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou ? whom seekest thou ? 
She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have 
borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him 
away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith j- to him, 
Babboni ; which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not ; 
for I am not yet ascended to my Father : but go to my brethren, and say 
unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father ; and to my God, 
and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had 
seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her." 

Might we not, whenever this Gospel is read, imagine that 
we were listening to a hymn of praise of ecstatic harmony 
in connexion with the resurrection, rather than a narra- 
tive of the event. What object can be more charming. 



cheist's first appeaeance. 



43 



affecting, and tender, than the scene which is here brought 
under our observation? A. higher world here stands out 
from the lower one, in which all that we prize as most beau- 
tiful and noble upon earth is presented to us as lighted 
up with heavenly glory ; and from thence a light beams on 
us, in the wondrous radiance of which every gloomy care in 
our own course is dissipated. In its light, the way through 
the valley of our pilgrimage, stretching beyond death and 
the tomb, lies disclosed before us as a peaceful path bloom- 
ing with the most exalted hopes. Let us contemplate this 
attractive story from a nearer point of view, and may our 
spiritual energies be increased by meditation upon the first 
appearance of the risen Prince of Peace. In Mary's grief 
we shall recognise the indispensable condition of all true 
joy in the resurrection; and in the personal revelation of 
the Prince of the Resurrection, ive shall find the end of all 
earthly sorrows. May that happiness be again experienced 
in our midst which was then realised by Mary Magdalene. 
The Lord of His mercy grant it ! 

I. The rising sun is just about to gild the toj)S of the 
mountains of Judea with the first roseate tints of dawn. It 
is spring, and day breaks beautifully over the realm of 
nature, whilst One incomparably more beautiful breaks over 
the spiritual world. You will see nothing of the latter at 
the Dement we are entering Joseph's garden. On the con- 
trary, our eye at once fixes itself upon a scene which forms 
a harsh contrast to the cheerful festive dress with which 
newly-awakened nature is adorned. Look yonder ! do you 
not see, between those shrubs in front of the open sepulchre, 
the veil of mourning waving in the breeze ? Who is she 
who, all alone, has found her way here so early, whose eyes 
are swimming in tears, and who, with her head leaning on 
the stone, seems ready to faint with agony and grief ? You 
know her. It is that disciple whom you saw, at the Pharisee's 



44 



CHRIST'S FIRbT APPEARANCE. 



house, a while ago, wash her Divine Master's feet with her 
tears and dry them with the hair of her head, — she who 
once went so far astray, and was so fearfully possessed, — she 
whom her Lord liberated from the power of seven devils, 
and in a peculiar manner rescued as a brand out of the fire. 
Much had been forgiven her, and therefore she loved and 
still loves much. How happy was she then, so gloriously 
saved ! But, alas ! her sun declined, and the day of her 
peace, according to all appearance, was never likely to dawn 
again. What she, when sobered down from worldly intoxi- 
cation, once desired, with passionate impatience, whether 
men call it truth or assurance, — that G-od would restore her 
to favour, confer power to overcome Satan and the world, 
and the hope of eternal life, — all these, and much more 
besides, Mary Magdalene had found in Jesus her Prince of 
Peace. Through His instrumentality, she saw her past 
merged in the sea of oblivion ; the blissful rays of His grace 
and love to sinners brightened up her present and her future. 
Whenever she contrasted her present with her past, she felt 
as if she must join in the holy Virgin's anthem — " Behold, 
from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed." But 
now, all that beautiful world, in which she was once so 
happy, lies shattered before her. Its foundations are broken 
up. Her Surety for all that she had accepted as eternal 
truth, had sunk in death, and was still held by death. And 
had only His lifeless corpse still been there, Mary would 
certainly have bathed even this with her tears. But then — 
What! would she then still hope in a resurrection? I 
will not precisely maintain that ; but the contrast between 
the spotless innocence of her Divine Friend, and the dreadful 
termination of His life, are presented to her mind in such 
glaring, yea, in such appalling contradiction, that it seems to 
her the world must sink in ruins, unless there be a har- 
monious settlement, unless there be a satisfactory explanation 



Christ's first appearance. 



45 



of the dreadful mystery. She has no longer any clearly- 
defined ground of hope, especially now that His dear remains 
have disappeared. But why does she perpetually repeat those 
prying glances into the empty sepulchre ? A certain some- 
thing, which at least borders on hope, lingers and lives in the 
depths of her soul. It is, however, only like a slender flame in 
a room where the draught from the door or window makes it 
flicker to and fro, and threatens every moment to put it out. 

But did not the disciple deserve a severe rebuke for her 
excessive grief, since she was not bereft of everything ? Her 
Master's teaching and His bright example were still left to 
her. To put such a question as this, betrays in the speaker 
a very superficial notion of what is needed above everything 
else by sinful humanity. What could Christ's teaching be 
to Mary, if the teacher, instead of being accredited, were 
repudiated by God ? What the value of all His engagements 
and promises, if the Eternal left Him without the attesting 
seal? What His mediatorial redemption, if the closing 
scene in the life of Him who assumed to be the surety of 
this redemption, stamped it as a failure? What the hope 
of future bliss, if He who suggested it Himself remained 
under the power of death ? She saw her whole salvation 
strictly connected with the personality of the man ; and in 
this she was perfectly right. She needed a propitiator and 
mediator accredited of God, who could be her representative 
before the Judge of the living and of the dead, who could 
secure to her the Divine favour, who could give her eternal 
life. Without such a one, she wanted everything that could 
set her soul at ease. She had believed that she had found 
him : according to present appearances, however, her faith 
had been but a beautiful, blissful dream. Will you still 
doubt whether she had good reason for shedding those tears 
before the empty sepulchre? Assuredly you would not, 
were you to place yourself in her position. 



m 



Christ's first appearance. 



But be assured there is no Easter joy in the resurrection 
to the man who, the instant he conceives the Mediator as 
having been removed, knows nothing of Mary's anguish, 
who does not feel himself to be unhappy, helpless, and 
wretched, with an intensity of feeling like hers. The first 
condition of participation in the joy of the resurrection lies 
in this, that after a man has been thoroughly convinced of 
his lost state, he passionately thirst for the grace of God and 
the assurance of eternal life, — that he feel and confess all the 
world can offer to relieve this craving is inadequate. As it 
was with Mary Magdalene in the instance before us, so he 
will never attain inward peace until he have met One who 
came down from heaven to earth, not only to announce in 
God's name pardon to sinners, but who confirmed the cheer- 
ing message in a manner that commended itself alike to 
both head and heart. And this One has appeared. The 
soul which finds itself in despair as to all human counsel 
and comfort, and yearns for some fixed grounds of hope, 
will infallibly and speedily discover Him in the Lord of the 
resurrection, and having done so, will ask nothing further of 
heaven or earth. 

Mary bends down again, and tries once more to pry into 
the sepulchre, as though it were inconceivable that the dear 
remains should have disappeared from within it. She sees 
two noble forms in white garments, the one sitting at the 
head, the other at the foot, where the body of Jesus bad 
lain. We know who these living antitypes of the cherubim 
standing upon the ark of the covenant were. you who, 
having turned aside from the faith, still follow your own 
ways, learn here to have some perception, though imperfect, 
how happy they are, even on this side the grave, to whom 
the gospel is a truth in their inmost souls. All terrors are, 
for them, removed ; the heavenly world rises before their 
view as one of glory, and imparts its glory to this earth ; 



cheist's fiest appeaeance. 



47 



even from the tomb they are hailed by the divine heralds of 
peace, with transporting announcements of immortal life. 
" Woman, why weepest thou ? " One of the heavenly 
watchers at the sepulchre addresses in these words a female 
disciple dissolved in tears. It is still uncertain whether she 
recognised the angels as such, or whether she thought them 
mere men. But granting that she recognised the angels to 
be such, it was not they of whom, she was in search, but a 
totally different Being : and even the highly encouraging 
question, " Woman, why weepest thou ? " would only have 
tended to wound her more deeply, for it must have been 
unintelligible to her why any one should inquire the cause 
of her tears. " They have taken away my Lord" she re- 
plied, sobbing, " and I knoiv not where they have laid him." 
How affecting are these words ! and how much faith gleams 
through that expression, "My Lord/' notwithstanding all 
her other unbelief ! Whatever may have become of Him, 
He remains, now as before, her Lord, and she His humble 
and devoted handmaid and disciple. She still convulsively 
clings to the dead, like one suspended over a yawning abyss, 
who clutches the last holdfast he could seize in the act of 
falling. If she must give up the Master for lost, a whole 
host of holy angels, however friendly their approach, would 
have failed to compensate for His absence. And this feeling 
of hers is neither unfounded nor illusory. What could the 
angels offer her, who needed a Mediator, to reunite the 
broken ties between her and the thrice Holy One above, and 
to present her, a sinner fallen under the curse of the law, 
justified before God ? 

II. Mary Magdalene, after this short interview with the 
angels, resigns herself again to grief. Anon she hears foot- 
steps behind her. Turning hastily round, who is it that 
stands before her tear-bedimmed eyes ? One whom she 
supposes to be Joseph's gardener. But what was he to her ? 



48 



cheist's fiest appeaeance. 



She leans her head back on the stone, and her tears again 
flow more abundantly. You need not be surprised that she 
did not know Him, though she looked Him in the face. Only 
remember her poor suffused eyes, and that world filled with 
images of mourning and of death to which her spirit was 
confined, and which had no room for the living. Indeed she 
might rightly call the Unknown One a gardener. He was 
so, — a heavenly one, who now drew near to restore and raise 
again, with tender hand, a flower that had been beaten down 
and nearly broken off the stem by the storm. Whoever 
weeps after Him He is not far from, no matter where the 
spot may be. The supposed gardener opens His gracious 
lips, and says, " Woman, why weepest thou ? whom seekest 
thou?" These, then, were His first words after His resur- 
rection. Oh matchless morning salutation ! — a greeting of 
comprehensive import for the whole body of believers ! The 
expression, "Wherefore this lueeping 1 why these tears V 
removes every cause for them, and is equivalent to that com- 
mand in the Book of Eevelation, uttered in the exercise of 
Divine authority, " Weep not ! the Lion of the tribe of 
Judah hath prevailed." Whatever they may seek, — whether 
it be truth, whether it be peace, whether it be consolation in 
life and in death, — that expression, "What seekest thou?" 
instructs them that they might long since have found it, 
since God hath prepared it abundantly in Him in whom lie 
hidden " all the treasures both of wisdom and knowledge," 
as well as those of " grace and salvation." Mary, at any 
rate understand that ! " Why weepest thou ? whom seekest 
thou?" But, enveloped in the web of her gloomy fancies, 
she hears in that which was an unmingled promise only an 
idle, if not an insulting question. Foolishly, though with 
touching simplicity, she replies, " Sir, if thou have borne 
Him hence, tell me where thou hast laid Him, and I will 
take Him away." How heart-stirring this word "Him" 



cheist's fiest appeaeance. 



49 



is, as uttered by her. At first she thinks it would be super- 
fluous to mention His name. She thinks that all the world 
must know of whom she speaks. She speaks of Him, the 
only one who fills her whole soul, and in whom is bound up 
all that she thinks it worth while to inquire for. " Hast thou 
borne Him away t" Yes, Mary, He has done so. Oh, if 
she had but a surmise of this mystery ! " Tell me where 
thou hast laid Him, and I will take Him aivay." And 
indeed, had He but told her, she would, without calculating 
her strength, have started at once on the errand, even though 
the spot named should have been miles off. Had this at- 
tachment to the person of her Master been an error, it 
would, at this stage, have been the Master's duty to have 
rectified it. Correcting her views, He would have said, 
" Mary, let the Man go whose loss thou bewailest, since thou 
hast His promise to save thee, which is all that is necessary/' 
But such an expression never escaped His lips. He, on the 
contrary, put the stamp of His approbation upon her linger- 
ing affection for Him ; for He satisfied it, and gave Himself 
back to her who had mourned His loss. 

What a scene is now opening upon us ! The condescend- 
ing One can no longer refrain. His bowels of mercy yearn. 
He must release the sobbing mourner from the prison of 
her gloomy thoughts. And in what an inimitably tender 
manner does He do this, the mode suiting itself to the pro- 
foundest cravings of her heart ! Well, you already know it. 
He again opens His gracious lips, and there issues from them 
what may well be called the most transporting sound that 
ever fell on human ear and heart, and which no mortal lips 
may ever rival in sweetness of utterance. It was a word, an 
utterance, in which the speaker expressed all His grace and 
love. Yes ! the infinite was hidden in it ; possibly it gives 
us a presentiment of the language of heaven, where speech 
is the expression and impress of perfect truth and harmony, 

D 



50 



Christ's first appearance. 



and where a world of sacred thoughts and blissful feelings is 
developed by one word or tone. He calls her, who stood 
before Him dissolved in tears, by name, with that gracious 
intonation to which her ear had been accustomed in earlier 
days. In merely human friendly relations, how much com- 
fort and encouragement may be thrown into the tones with 
which the closely-allied address each other by name, is not 
unknown to you. And in this instance there was much more 
than a human friend ! " Mary ! " He says, with uplifted voice, 
as though He would fain say, " Thou richly-blest, thou highly- 
favoured one, dost thou droop the head ? dost thou mourn ? 
dost thou weep V* But all effort would be vain that should 
attempt to render, by any corresponding expression, the 
genial, cheering sense, the plenitude of promise and blessed- 
ness involved in that one word, " Mary ! " It is only in some 
restricted measure, and but faintly, revealed to one susceptible 
of the feeling. In that "Mary !" pealed all the merry chimes 
of Easter-tide at once. All the blessedness that stands asso- 
ciated with the resurrection radiates from it upon us. The 
word " Mary/' thus intoned, floats through the air far beyond 
the disciple herself, and is indeed a congratulation addressed 
by the Divine Conqueror over death to His ineffably-favoured 
Church. 

" Mary ! " Joyfully startled at the sound of her name, 
she turns round ; and who stands before her ? Can she be- 
lieve her eyes ? or does some sweet dream mock her ? " Is 
it Thou? art Thou really He V 3 Yes, Mary, it is He! To 
recognise the Risen One, and to fall at His feet in adora- 
tion, is, on the disciple's part, the act of one moment ; but 
to express the agitated feelings which move her heart at this 
moment, she finds none other than the suddenly- extorted 
exclamation, " Rabboni that is, "My Lord and Master I" 
Whatever of filial reverence, of unreserved devotion, of sacred 
passionate affection, and superhuman ioy can enter into the 



CHRIST'S FIEST APPEARANCE. 



51 



poor human heart, is here presented to us in a compressed 
form by the one word " Eabboni ! " This word Eabboni is 
an open vessel from which exhales fragrance like the odours 
of paradise. It mirrors to us the radiant form with which 
the love of Christ can glorify the inner man. It is the cry- 
of homage, of adoration, and of unconditional subjection ; 
but first, and above all, a cry of joy and rejoicing. And how 
well this rejoicing is warranted ! For He is alive again who 
died on the cross, and in His appearance Mary sees — and we 
do so likewise — the end of all the cares, pains, and troubles 
of this mortal life. For as His whole doctrine, and especially 
His testimony to the superhuman dignity of His own per- 
son, now shine for the first time in the full splendour of 
divine confirmation, so likewise it is only now for the first 
time actually placed beyond all doubt, that He has finished 
His work of salvation to the highest satisfaction of His hea- 
venly Father, — that the latter has accepted, as fully justi- 
ficatory, the ransom paid for us, — that the debt is paid for 
all who through faith become one with Him, the second 
Adam, — that righteousness has been wrought out, — that 
heaven has been taken possession of for us, — and that the 
world, death, the devil, and hell have been finally and for ever 
vanquished. Yes, at Easter the redeemed Church celebrates 
the coronation of its Mediator, Surety, and Representative. 
The apostle intimates it by his triumphant appeal in Eomans 
viii. 34, u Who is he that condenmeth?" primarily based 
upon our Lord's death on the cross, but supplemented and 
supported by the sentence, " Yea rather who is risen again," 
by Christ's resurrection, the miracle of the third day. 

The disciple, prostrate, seems, in her joyous excitement, 
as though about to have embraced her Master's feet. And 
then it was that she received that rebuff which has ever ap- 
peared so mysterious to expositor*., — " Touch me not" says 
the Lord, "for I am not yet ascended to my Father!' This 



52 



Christ's first appearance. 



saying will not appear so difficult if I — and the original text 
fully warrants my doing so — change our translation, " Touch 
me not" into, " Do not cling to me," or, " Bo not clasp me 
tightly" Thus our Lord's purpose, in the first place, is re- 
stricted to decline, in the most tender manner, the exube- 
rance of human feeling with which the disciple greets His 
reappearance, and to give her to understand that the pre- 
vious intercourse of His followers with Him would thence- 
forth have to yield to one higher and more spiritual. He 
tacitly reminds her of His own declaration, (John xii. 32,) 
" And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men 
unto me." In the next place, that the disciple should not 
dream that she had already met her Lord and Master in 
heaven, and that the mode of His reappearance, in which 
she at that moment rejoiced, would be a lasting one, He 
suggests that He has not yet ascended, and that she had 
still a great tract to traverse through the vale of pilgrimage 
ere faith would be changed to sight. Whether He finally 
gave her to understand that she need not endeavour anxi- 
ously to cling to Him, since He did not stand before her as 
a fleeting vision from another world, but that for a while He 
was about to sojourn upon earth, and that He should meet 
her again here below, — whether this be the true import of 
the expression, may remain undecided. Some attach the 
latter sense to His words, and there may be ground for 
that opinion. Mary was not to be grieved by the bearing 
which the Lord assumed with reference to her, but only 
brought back from her excitement to clearer, calmer self- 
possession ; and hence the Lord adds to His address, which 
was of a nature to calm her strong feelings, that comforting 
message, so full of promise, and disclosing, as it does, such 
glorious prospects for the future — " Go to my brethren, and 
say to them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father, 
to my God and your God." What a fulness of most blessed 
meaning there is in this utterance! His "brethren!" He 



Christ's fikst appeakance. 



53 



had never specially addressed them so before. He first gives 
them this honourable name just as He is about to enter on 
the inheritance. Let us congratulate ourselves upon this 
circumstance. But let our mutual felicitations be still 
greater upon that equality with Himself, transcending our 
boldest expectations, with which He honours His redeemed 
ones in the words, " I ascend to my Father and your Father, 
to my God and your God!' For what does He thereby ex- 
press, unless it be that the Almighty, after Jesus had suc- 
cessfully carried out our suit before Him, was, so far as 
affection and love were concerned, as much our Father as 
His. He here repeats that which He had already said in 
His prayer as High Priest to His heavenly Father, "Thou 
lovest them, as thou lovest me," (John xvii. 23 ;) and we 
afterwards hear its echo in the words of the disciple who 
lay on Jesus' breast, " As he," the Son of His love, " is, so 
are also we in this world." It is, at the same time, unmis- 
takably our Lord's intention to remit the disciple again to 
the Church, and thereby to preserve her from the thought 
that she stood in some extraordinarily favoured position with 
reference to Himself ; therefore He sends her to the " breth- 
ren," and says to her, she being comprised with the others, 
" to your Father," and " to your God." 

Abundantly consoled and overflowing with joy, Mary 
hastens from the spot to execute her Lord's command. Ere 
she reached the assembled disciples, she, with a beaming 
face, shouts out her most joyous message from the distance, 
" I have seen the Lord, and He has spoken to me." Your 
Jesus lives ! This suffices her, and she is right, in that she 
allows herself to be content with that fact. As long as 
there was any doubt as to what had become of the corpse, 
the whole human race had urgent cause to stand weeping 
before the tomb, awaiting in the most intense excitement 
what the third day should bring forth. This day had now 
consummated in one event all that was needed by humanity 



54 



CHRIST'S F1EST APPEARANCE. 



for its salvation and peace for time and eternity. The day 
brought Him back alive from the dead : it presented Him 
to us absolved of God from all our sins ; Him crowned with 
glory and honour, having representatively endured our curse. 
Easter-day brought us, in the resurrection of Jesus, God's 
confirmatory Yea and Amen to all our Lord's testimony; 
God's seal of eternal Sonship affixed ; God's receipt, in full, 
for the sum total of the debt of our race paid by Him ; the 
declaration that both Head and members were in the highest 
degree worthy to enter the Father's house ; the revelation of 
the triumph achieved over death and over him who has the 
power of death, even the devil ; the indubitable certainty 
that death in the fellowship of the Prince of Life is the 
highest gain ; and, finally, sure guarantee that the bodies of 
His people are not lost in their graves, but slumber, await- 
ing a glorious issue to life and everlasting glory. Oh! what 
unrivalled and radiant hopes the resurrection has poured 
forth upon our earth ; it illumines with a transforming 
heavenly sunshine the darkest spots, the most sombre cham- 
bers of sorrow, and the blackest nights of care in the vale of 
our pilgrimage. Brother, does it beam on thee ? or do the 
dark clouds of doubt still envelope thee ? Oh, that thou 
mightest inquire after Him with the passionate longing of 
Mary Magdalene ; then, indeed, He would ere long call thee 
also by name, and thou shoulclest stammer forth in ecstasy 
and homage thy " Rabboni." May God's grace bring this to 
pass, and may we, by the power of the Holy Spirit, one and 
all, presently be enabled to make that hymn to the Lord of 
the resurrection our own — 

" Jesus my Redeemer lives ! 

Christ my trust is dead no more ; 
In the strength this knowledge gives, 

Shall not all my fears be o'er ? 
Calm, though death's long night be fraught 
(Still with many an anxious thoixght. 



THE EISEN ONE APPEARS TO THE WOMEN, ETC. 



55 



THE EISEN ONE APPEARS TO THE WOMEN AND 

TO SIMON. ; 

The apostle Paul having just exhorted his companion and 
helper Timothy to arm himself for the fight against the 
hostile powers of the world, and having encouraged him to 
endure the cross perse veringly, has exhausted the subject, 
exclaiming, in the well-known passage in 2 Tim. ii. 8, " Re- 
member that Jesus Christ luas raised from the dead!' He 
seeks to impress him with an image that shall permanently 
stand in the foreground of his soul, presenting itself ever 
clearly defined there. The figure is that of the Lord Jesus ; 
in fact; the radiant form of the risen Saviour. With refer- 
ence to this, the apostle held that the direct contemplation 
of this victor form upon every field of battle would lead his 
beloved friend to speedy and certain triumph. He held such 
an anticipation to be justified by his own experience. Hear 
him, immediately pater the above-quoted passage, declare that 
" he suffered for the gospel of the risen One even unto bonds;" 
and from how many other passages in his epistles does it un- 
equivocally appear that a lively remembrance of Him who 
was dead, and is alive again, proved to the apostle an inex- 
haustible source of energy, courage, and peace. Paul felt 
sure that Timothy's experience would, provided he followed 
his advice, be coincident with his own. From the contem- 
plation of the risen Saviour by the enlightened mind, there 



56 



THE RISEN ONE APPEARS 



arises a blissful and fortifying influence which nothing else 
can supply. That so many amongst us, in the struggles of 
life, but too readily despair and succumb, is solely attribut- 
able to the fact that the risen Saviour has not yet presented 
Himself to them in the right light, or that they do not know- 
how to retain Him fixedly and steadily in view. If we, who 
minister in the Word, would shew ourselves " helpers of the 
joy" of our congregations, let us preach to them the miracle 
of the resurrection. What could I desire more than to 
succeed, by these our Easter meditations, in imprinting upon 
your minds and hearts, in ardent characters of love, and that 
indelibly, the sublime form of Him who vanquished sin, 
death, and hell ! May He in mercy grant it, who alone has 
the power to do so, whom we are about to see reward the 
fidelity of those elect women, who, to the disgrace of the 
men, remained His stanch adherents, without wavering, 
previous to the time of His resurrection, up to His latest 
breath, in spite of contumely, and at the peril of their lives. 

Matt, xxviii. 9, 10 ; Luke xxiv. 34. 
"And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, 
All hail ! And they came and held him by the feet, and worshipped him. 
Then said J esus unto them, Be not afraid : go tell my brethren that they 
go into Galilee, and there shall they see me." " The Lord is risen indeed, 
and hath appeared to Simon." 

" Ye blissful forty days 
To me are forty years ; 
In them, my Saviour, 
I silence all my fears. 
Henceforth be my heart's employment, 
All absorb'd in Thy enjoyment." 

Thus sang a pious poet. From the depths of our soul we 
join in with the sentiment. The forty days are to us the 
light of a new and glorious world. And God be praised, 
that the end of the world was not coincident with that of 
those days : it exists to this hour ! That which we here see 



TO THE WOMEN AND TO SIMON. 



57 



befall the women, and then Peter, equally happens to believers 
still. Let us dwell on this topic for a while, and consider, 
first, the meeting with the female disciples, and then that 
ivith Simon. May the Lord vouchsafe us, in the course of 
our meditation, a similar revelation to that with which they 
were favoured ! 

I. The women to whom our attention is first directed are 
already known to us. We also know where they went at 
early dawn. They had been to the tomb of their souls' 
Friend ; and with what joyous excitement and with what a 
message had they just returned ! They have to report, not 
upon human testimony, but from the lips of holy angels, 
nothing less than this — that the omnipotent voice of the 
living God, and not the hand of enemies, as they had feared, 
had burst their Master's tomb ; and that He who was dead, 
having raised Himself triumphantly out of the dust, is alive 
again. However, they feel so much astonishment in this 
great matter, that they are constrained to ask themselves 
again and again whether they merely dream, or be really 
awake. Just like the apostle in the Gospel, who, walking 
upon the foaming billows, reeled, and began to sink, so was 
it with their faith. " Oh that He would but present Himself 
but once to us," say they, " and all doubt would be dissi- 
pated ! " And as they are thus thinking, what happens ? 
Suddenly a friendly greeting, with no ordinary intonation, 
is addressed to them. Startled, they turn round, and — oh 
the astonishment ! — there He stands before their eyes ; — yes, 
He himself, all radiant with circumambient glory ! They 
fall prostrate at His feet in adoration; inward amaz.. .ent 
holds the balance between transport and joy. How could it 
be otherwise ? What an exalted personage have they before 
them now in the Risen One ! He no longer represents a 
divinely- accredited prophet announcing God's judgments, 
nor the mere Saviour of sinners, who, after His work had 



58 



THE RISEN ONE APPEARS 



been perfectly finished, was crowned by His Father with 
glory and honour, — but in the character and glory of Him 
who was at once manifested as the only-begotten Son of the 
living God, and actually the King of glory exalted to the 
throne of the universe. Is it, therefore, any marvel that the 
first impression which His reappearance created in them 
was an almost bewildering and prostrating one ? The Lord, 
however, hastens to reassure their agitation. And how does 
He calm their minds ? Does He endeavour in some way to 
lower the tone of their conceptions of the superhuman dignity 
of His person, and of the unbounded importance of His re- 
surrection, as too bold and unmeasured ? No ! far from 
that. He knew Himself, with the most perfect distinctness, 
to be not only the Person whose whole doctrine was authen- 
ticated by the seal of the Most High confirming it with a 
world-wide splendour, and whose work of salvation was rati- 
fied to endless ages by the Amen from above ; but to be 
Him whom the heavenly Father had adorned, in the face of 
heaven, earth, and hell, with a diadem as King of kings and 
Lord of lords, and whom He had, in the most solemn man- 
ner, proclaimed and placed before the sight of a redeemed 
world as the conqueror of sin, death, and the devil. Accord- 
ingly He does not forbid the women to render the worship 
which they offer Him, though He controls the anxious 
tremor which His presence and majesty impose. "Fear 
not!" says He to them. That "Fear not!" which first 
resounded at His birth from angel lips, received at this 
moment its first full confirmation. Why should they fear 
any longer, now that the crowned Head of all principalities 
and powers is, at the same time, the Saviour of sinners ; 
and that the glory awarded Him was so less as to the eter- 
nal Son than in a special and more peculiar manner to the 
Son of man, who interposed in our stead, and acquired the 
full right to lead the people whom He had redeemed with 



TO THE WOMEN AND TO SIMON. 



59 



His blood, ever henceforth wielding over them the sceptre of 
grace and condescension? 

It may seem remarkable that our Lord, on this occasion, 
permits the women to do that which, with His " Touch me 
not /" He had forbidden to Mary Magdalene. But He is "the 
Searcher of hearts," and weighs the mind and disposition 
in His own balances. The feelings with which the women 
in the place cited from the Gospel before us fall before Him, 
were different from those by which Mary Magdalene was 
moved when she addressed Him. Theirs were feelings of 
the most reverential worship demonstrated before the face of 
the glorified God-man ; whilst Mary's feelings were those of 
passionate joy at the human reappearance of her Saviour and 
Protector. Mary needed, therefore, an elevation to higher 
spiritual views of the future relation of the redeemed to their 
glorified Mediator ; whilst these needed, above everything, 
a confirmation that they really saw in Him the same Lord 
and Master bodily before them whom they had carried to 
the sepulchre three days previously, and not an appearance 
from another world. Such tender consideration is vouch- 
safed by the Lord to His people with reference to their 
peculiar idiosyncrasies ; He does not rule them by any rigid 
plan, but tempers His dealings by a regard to their peculiar 
dispositions and their most inward necessities. Hence the 
great variety in the leadings of His providence with be- 
lievers, whilst their inward principle is one and the same. 
He, however, brings them all, though each one by a different 
path, through a course of humiliation, of inward mortifica- 
tion, and of continuous growth in Him who is the Head. 
To this the apostle Paul refers in Eph. iii. 10, where he 
speaks of l( the manifold ivisdom of God being made known 
to the church" 

Our Lord connects with His encouraging address, "Be 
not afraid/' the commission, " Go tell my brethren, that they 



60 



THE EISEN ONE APPEAES 



go into Galilee, and there shall they see me." A glorious 
mission which He confided to them ! Whilst some will 
think, " Alas ! but to whom was the post of ambassador 
committed?" But this hypocritical "Alas!" condemns the 
man who utters it, for it shews him to be but a pitiable 
victim of the evil spirit of unbelief, which governs and fetters 
our self-deluded age. For has it to-day ceased to be an 
historical fact, that One came, who nailed our bond with its 
obligations to the cross, who disarmed death for us, and 
brought life and immortality to light ? I may almost say 
that it is more so now than it formerly was, since it has 
been maintained eighteen hundred years in the experience 
of the best and noblest of the sons of earth, and has 
thoroughly vanquished all the cavils of sophistical philo- 
sophy. But what prevents us from appropriating to our- 
selves the blessed message which the women were to publish ? 
Nothing but a wretched and wholly inexcusable unbelief, 
by which we wilfully rob ourselves of precious treasure. 
But, God be praised, we have not all done so. On the 
contrary, there are not a few amongst us who, by the Lord's 
mercy, can utter with full emphasis that passage of the poet — 

" Oh, into every highway haste 
To call the wanderers home ; 
With outstretch'd hand and joyous voice 
Invite them all to come. 

" For now 'tis heaven on earth with us, 
Bid sinners all draw near; 
And if they will with us believe, 
A welcome waits them here." 

The women, in a joyous transport, promptly hasten to exe- 
cute the delightful command of their risen Master. Indeed, 
they have little more to announce to the disciples than the 
authentic, joyous intelligence that the Lord is really risen 
from the dead. They were sensible of the high and blissful 



TO THE WOMEN AND TO SIMON. 61 

importance of His resurrection, but their conceptions of it 
were confused and unsettled. It was not until after Pente- 
cost that clearness and light came to their relief, and raised 
their twilight to bright broad day. How many are there 
who now live in a frame of mind analogous to that of the 
women at this time. A lively anticipation of the exaltation 
of Christ, of the blessedness of a life in communion with 
Him, pervades their hearts, whilst they do not definitely 
and clearly realise what is involved in their relation to Him. 
This was at first to them like an object but faintly seen in 
the distance. Their state may, at least in some respects, be 
compared with that which befell Paul, when, near Damascus, 
the light from heaven shone round about him, and the Lord 
first appeared to him in glory, but at a distance. They 
need that something similar betide them, which subsequently 
occurred to the same apostle, when, upon Ananias laying 
his hands upon his eyes, the scales fell from them, and he 
then, filled with the Holy Ghost, saw clearly in every direc- 
tion what a fulness of salvation and life was treasured up in 
Christ. 

It is easy to divine what motive determined the Risen 
One to assign Galilee as a rendezvous for His disciples, and 
as the theatre upon which He purposed still further to 
reveal Himself. Irrespective of the fact that Galilee was 
the land of His youth, whilst Judea was only that of His 
nativity, Galilee remained, in a peculiar and nearer sense, 
His native country, for He had found greater susceptibility 
for the reception of the salvation which He brought amongst 
the Galileans, (a frequently misjudged people, and who, on 
account of their being a more mixed race, and their greater 
intercourse with foreigners, were esteemed a nation of 
heretics,) than amongst the inhabitants of Juclea, wholly 
under the influence of Pharisees and scribes. With the 
exception of those occasions on which He went up to Jeru- 



62 



THE EISEN ONE APPEAES 



salem to the feasts, Christ had restricted both His* teaching 
and His miracles to Galilee ; and as His twelve apostles were 
all Galileans, so likewise were the great majority of His 
other disciples. What wonder, therefore, that He likewise 
selected Galilee for the site of the celebration of His great 
victory, and that He thereby practically confirmed the sub- 
sequent dictum of His apostle, "that base things of the 
world hath God chosen/' (1 Cor. i. 28.) 

II. It would seem that the joyous message delivered by 
the women proved inadequate thoroughly to convince the 
disciples of the reality of the resurrection. For when they, 
in the afternoon of the great clay, were hailed by the two 
disciples who had been to Emmaus, with the jubilant ex- 
clamation, "The Lord is risen indeed!" they appealed for 
the truth of the joyful news, not to the testimony of the 
women, but only to that of Peter. "He has appeared to 
Peter," said they. What was it, however, that inclined 
them to attach such great credit to Peter's evidence ? For 
this brother had not hitherto given any extraordinary proofs 
of discretion, moderation, and keenness of judgment. But 
they had seen him in poignant grief and contrition at his 
fall, and knew that he would then accept consolation from 
no quarter ; but that now he was suddenly the subject of 
consolation so powerful that it found expression in his 
countenance, which beamed with joy, — the only assigned 
cause for the change being, as he assured them, the fact that 
the Lord had appeared to him, and had Himself pardoned 
his offence, after which they had no longer any reason to 
doubt of it. His eyes sparkling with joy vouched to them 
the truth that the Lord is alive again ; for it would have 
been utterly inconceivable by them that Peter could have 
allowed himself to be comforted and set at ease by any mere 
phantom, or by any illusory appearance. 

The Gospel does not tell us when or where the Lord ap- 



TO THE WOMEN AND TO SIMON. 



63 



peared to* Peter on the day of His resurrection. It is known 
with what tender precaution the Bisen One had by the angel 
instructed the women, when at the empty sepulchre, to 
notify to Peter that his Master was alive again, before they 
did so to the others,— whence the disciple might draw the 
comfortable conclusion that the Lord was again kindly dis- 
posed to him ; and the apostle was now at least so prepared 
for a personal interview with the Kisen One, that, whenever 
it actually took place, it could no longer overwhelm him 
with stupifying and prostrating amazement. We have al- 
ready seen him, much more terrified than cheered by Mary 
Magdalene's notification, hurry away to Joseph's garden, but 
there again, sorely disappointed, return from it to Jerusa- 
lem. And he may possibly just have arrived there when 
the other female disciples appeared, and delivered their mes- 
sage. Now, I imagine that Peter may have again started 
on the road to the holy sepulchre, and that it was on this 
second journey that the Lord revealed Himself to him. 

How willingly would we have the veil raised from this 
appearance of the risen Saviour ! But scenes transpire in 
the kingdom of God, the exceedingly tender, sacred, and 
heavenly nature of which wholly defy representation or com- 
munication ; nay, which cannot be laid bare to vulgar, mor- 
tal sight, without actually damaging to some extent the 
glorious enamel, as it were, with which they are covered. 
The first meeting of our Lord with His intensely grieved 
and contrite Peter must have been a scene of this kind. Let 
us, therefore, not presume to attempt a description of it, 
If He do not Himself narrate it to us, the angels, who wit- 
nessed it with emotion, will one day do so in heaven. Suf- 
fice it, the Prince of Peace has, with ineffable kindness 
wiped away the tears from the eyes of His deeply agitated 
disciple lying there before Him in the dust, and has hailed 
him, no less solemnly than condescendingly, with His resur- 



64 



THE BISEN ONE APPEARS 



reetion (Easter) benediction, " Peace be unto you ! " and that 
with an intonation which still echoes blissfully in the dis- 
ciple's soul to this hour. Peter rose, from that most glorious 
moment of his earthly existence, as if born anew, or rather 
as if raised from death to life. It must remain an unsettled 
point, whether he were at that time fully and clearly in- 
formed upon what ground the Lord had granted him abso- 
lute forgiveness. But he implicitly confided in the simple 
assurance of lips from which a falsehood had never pro- 
ceeded. And although the mysterious connexion between 
his Master's absolution and His bloody passion had not been 
fully manifested to him, since the day of Pentecost was not 
yet arrived, he knew, nevertheless, that he had received mercy, 
that he was pardoned. But when he subsequently wrote his 
epistle, the ground of his final justification before God was 
no longer a mystery to him. Por then he could with full 
utterance announce to the brethren, " Ye are redeemed, not 
with corruptible things as silver and gold, but with the pre- 
cious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and 
without spot/' " Christ," he declared, " has himself borne 
our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, who are dead 
to sin, should live to righteousness. By his wounds ye are 
healed." Prom this moment the full importance of the re- 
surrection of Jesus, in every point of view, was disclosed to 
him. " Through the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," 
he writes, " God has of his abundant mercy begotten us again 
unto a lively hope and he indicates the resurrection of 
Christ as the foundation for " the answer of a good con- 
science towards God." Now, it was clear to him, and he 
was perfectly conscious of the fact, that the Mediator having 
been raised by the Pather, he, the sinner, was proved to be 
justified, Christ having voluntarily assumed his sins, — that 
Jesus had received solemn testimony from His Pather that 
His priestly, vicarious work was perfectly finished, approved, 



TO THE WOMEN AND TO SIMON. 



Go 



and accepted by Him. Beyond all question it was now valid 
for Peter, since the justification of the Surety extended to 
the whole body of the redeemed, for it was their debts which 
He, on their behalf, had paid, and their sins which He ex- 
piated, and for which He gave satisfaction to the Majesty on 
high. 

The resurrection of the Lord is but seldom estimated now- 
a-days by Christians as of this high importance, although 
God's Word distinctly attaches to it the very greatest weight. 
Paul, for example, when he triumphantly exclaims, " Who is 
he that condemneth ? It is Christ that died ;' ; then imme- 
diately adds, with great emphasis, " yea rather, that is risen 
again" And it will no longer appear enigmatical to us why 
he so specially reposes his consciousness of not being ob- 
noxious to condemnation upon Christ's resurrection. The 
acquittance, if I may so speak, which the Almighty granted 
by the resurrection to the Son as to the debts discharged by 
Him, was placed to the credit of the apostle, as it likewise was 
to that of all those who through faith should become one with 
the Son, this second Adam. The payment itself, indeed, was 
made upon the cross, but the actual declaration that it was 
acknowledged as perfectly valid and accepted on the Most 
High, this was first shewn to a sinful world on Easter-clay. 
It is said in Scripture that " Christ died for our sins, and 
rose again for our justification," — (that is to say, as a proof 
that God has acquitted us of our debt, and beholds us as 
righteous in Him.) 

Oh, let not, then, this strong consolation of the resurrec- 
tion be to any one of us like a treasure hidden in a field, as 
is, alas ! the case with so many at this time, and seems likely 
to continue so. The way to the attainment of the incom- 
parable peace-inspiring treasure, is the same which Peter 
trod. In the first place, we tread that way when we get a 
thorough knowledge of our natural alienation from God: 

E 



66 



THE RISEN ONE APPEAES TO THE WOMEN, ETC. 



we tread that way when we absolutely condemn self ; we 
tread that way when we feel utterly ashamed of all our self- 
righteousness. If we once travel on that road which leads 
to utter repudiation of self, then a mere general notion that 
we may reckon on God's grace, exhibited for Christ's sake, 
will prove insufficient to give us peace. We inquire upon 
what grounds the expectation rests, and shall most certainly 
not declare ourselves satisfied, until we have both document 
and seal to shew that our heavenly Advocate has triumph- 
antly carried our suit before that throne whose foundations 
are justice and judgment. But His glorious resurrection 
gives us this guarantee. The apostle says, " If Christ be 
not raised, ye are yet in your sins." What is deducible 
from this? Nothing less than that, since He is risen, we, 
provided we may assume that we are numbered amongst His 
people, are, with reference to the tribunal of God, free, and 
discharged from our sins. What a disclosure is this ! The 
Lord give it a living and clear echo in our hearts, and help 
us with the whole heart to unite in the old Easter- song of 
the Church : — 

" Christ the Lord is risen again ! 
Christ hath broken every chain ! 
Hark ! the angels shout for joy, 
Singing evermore on high, 

Hallelujah ! 

" He who slumber d in the grave 
Is exalted now to save ; 
Now through Christendom it rings 
That the Lamb is King of kings ! . 

Hallelujah ! 

" Now He bids us tell abroad 
How the lost may be restored, 
How the penitent forgiven, 
How we too may enter heaven. 

Hallelujah ! " 

Lyra Germanica, 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



67 



VI. 

THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 

FIRST MEDITATION. 

" Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see ! for 
I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see 
those things which ye see, and have not seen them ; and to 
hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." 
This saying of our Lord (Luke x. 23, 24) is well known to 
you. May its application, in the whole breadth of its mean- 
ing, be realised by all of you! Nevertheless, how many 
born in Christendom know as yet nothing of the new glo- 
rious kingdom, which is erected by God's grace within the 
old one ! Separated from the other, as it were, by a wall 
as high as heaven, they still live in this one as they pre- 
viously did, as if every other were but a dream, and though 
delightful, yet the offspring of delusion. They make their 
way through the gloom of the valley of tears, having the 
fetters of a worldly spirit riveted upon them, "nay, sold 
under sin/' and " through fear of death they remain all 
their lives long subject to bondage;" whilst others, their 
immediate neighbours, as children of God, and freemen, 
journey through life with blissful hopes, and in sunshine, 
and exultingly triumph over death, the devil, and every 
other hostile power, as over enemies beaten and for ever 
disarmed. Does a world really exist where such a triumph 



68 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



would be authorised, and is it, not a beautiful land of 
dreams, but an actual and permanent abode? But who 
needs still to propose such a question as this ? The passage 
upon which we are just about to meditate, excellent beyond 
all comparison, will so elevate you, that, looking over the 
wall of partition, you may have a glimpse of the brighter world 
beyond, and it will, at the same time, should you desire it, 
point out the safe way by which you yourself may arrive 
there. 

Luke xxiv. 13-35. 

"And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called 
Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And 
they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it 
came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus 
himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that 
they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of 
communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and 
are sacl ? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said 
unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the 
things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto 
them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of 
Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and 
all the people : and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be 
condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had 
been he which should have redeemed Israel : and beside all this, to-day is 
the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also 
of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre : 
and when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also 
seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And ' certain of 
them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as 
the women had said : but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, 
fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken : 
ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? 
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in 
all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh 
unto the village, whither they went : and he made as though he would 
have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us ; for 
it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry 
with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took 
bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



69 



opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And 
they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he 
talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? 
And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found 
the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, saying, The 
Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what 
things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking 
of bread." 

Without this gospel, no Easter ! But like nature in re- 
turning spring ever renewing itself, and like the starry vault 
of heaven, which discloses fresh splendour to the eye that 
continues to gaze on it, so this passage of Scripture is sug- 
gestive of fresh and varied thought. The fragrance of inward 
truth which exhales to us from it, by which it interests us so 
delightfully, and operates upon us with such wonderful benefit, 
is an antidote to every enfeebling doubt ; above all, we are 
struck with the clear view it grants us of the new spiritual world 
which Christ has planted in the old world of death, and the 
distinctness with which it lays open the way by which we may 
see an entrance possible for ourselves into this world of peace. 
Let us take this pleasing narrative into closer consideration, 
and let us, in spirit, accompany the two disciples in their 
blessed journey. At first they appear to us involved in a~ 
night which, if Easter- day had not risen, would have en- 
shrouded us all; we then find them in the dawn of transi- 
tion from this starless darkness into the bright lovely scenes 
of Easter ; and, finally, in the full noontide splendour of 
the Easter Sun. Every one of us may see himself, and the 
reflected image of his own inward state, in the two disciples, 
at one stage or other of their journey. May the last stage 
we have indicated be the lot of all of us, and then what hap- 
piness will be ours ! 

Our narrative transports us to the afternoon of the day of 
the resurrection. We are at Jerusalem. The city is in great 
commotion. Priests and scribes are hastening from house to 



70 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



house, to give consistency to the report that the disciples of 
the crucified Galilean had, during the last night, secretly- 
broken into Joseph's garden, and whilst the guard slept had 
stolen their Master's corpse, and concealed it in some un- 
known place. The small body of disciples of the Crucified, 
dispersed by the horrors and terrors of the blood-stained 
Friday, are reassembled, but in small desponding groups. 
We meet them just as they are excited to the utmost by the 
declaration of the women, who insist that they have seen a 
vision of angels, and to crown that, they protest that they 
have even been favoured with an interview with their Eisen 
Master. This intelligence has produced upon them rather a 
passing amazement than any real comfort and tranquillity. 
They ascribe this consoling communication to the excited 
fancy of their credulous sisters, and even the hearts of the 
more susceptible among them oscillate between deep gloom 
and faint trembling hope. Some of them, and Thomas is of 
this number, have, with perfect resignation, retired into soli- 
tude. The two with whom we are now engaged, and who, 
doubtless, are numbered amongst the seventy, are just about 
to clo the same. Prostrated, and well nigh in despair, be- 
cause they consider themselves to have made shipwreck of 
all their hopes for time and for eternity, they return to their 
homes in the village of Emmaus, in order to prosecute their 
usual avocations as soon as their spirits would permit them. 
But w T hy in such haste? Why not first put the women's 
declaration to the test ? Why is the circumstance, that the 
linen clothes and the napkin were found by Peter and John, 
upon their arrival at the empty sepulchre, carefully folded 
and laid aside, not more narrowly scanned ? And above all, 
why was not the "word of prophecy" interrogated as to 
the course of life and mode of death of the promised Mes- 
siah ? and then why were the tablets of their memory, in- 
scribed as they were with the early expressions of their 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



71 



Master, not searched for intimations of His death and resur- 
rection? Why had they already seceded from the circle 
over which the promise hovered — (: 1 will not leave you 
orphans; I will come again unto you?" Oh! how often 
might we now stop many amongst us in their way and put 
similar questions : Why in such haste ? Why so soon ? when 
we see them yielding to the objections of a sceptical wordly- 
wisdom, desert their colours, surrender the gospel cause, and 
retreat into the camp of the unbelievers. If these unhappy 
persons would but give themselves time and opportunity for 
closer examination and investigation, assuredly they would, 
by degrees, be perfectly convinced that those discoveries 
which, emanating from a so-called "advanced mental cul- 
ture," whether in natural science, history, or criticism, had 
been announced to threaten the continued existence of Chris- 
tianity, are not actually so dangerous as popular clamour 
would fain have them esteemed. They unwisely conclude 
that they must yield the field to armed hosts, and flee before 
mere phantoms and airy forms, which, before the torch of a 
closer examination, resolve themselves into mere vapour. 

Thus, upon the loveliest day which ever lightened the 
world, our two disciples are groping as in the gloom of 
night. It is true, they were not distinctly conscious of the 
extent of the loss they had sustained in being deprived of 
their Master ; but they felt what they did not clearly know, 
and experienced most sensibly the truth of the apostle's de- 
claration, " If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain ; ye 
are yet in your sins and, " then they also which are fallen 
asleep in Christ are perished," (1 Cor. xv. 17, 18.) Who 
now stands surety for them, that God will accept the sinner, 
and exercise grace and not justice ? Without an intercessor, 
without a mediator, without a saviour, they see themselves 
cast upon their own resources. Without mast and without 
rudder, their little bark of life is fast drifting among the 



72 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



breakers. Where shall it gain the shore? who shall pre- 
serve it from total shipwreck ? He is no longer at the helm 
on whom all their hopes leaned ; He has ceased to be their 
Advocate with God ; He will no longer prepare them man- 
sions in heaven ; nor, when their last hour shall strike, will 
He invest them with that wedding garment of righteousness 
in which they may securely abide the judgment. Oh, how 
wretched are these two orphan souls, so severely smitten, so 
deeply impoverished ! But are you less so, though you do 
not yet feel it so profoundly, — you who have permanently, 
deliberately resigned yourselves to that unbelief into which 
these fell, but for a moment, through weakness ? Oh, cer- 
tainly not ! you are utterly stripped of hope, and more justly, 
because you belong to an age of higher mental culture. It 
cannot have escaped you that the wisdom of the natural 
understanding, with all the expenditure of its investigations 
and labour of thought, exercised during thousands of years 
up to the present hour, upon the real destiny of man, and 
especially upon his existence after death, has brought to 
light no reliable result. The two disciples philosophise 
justly when they resolve, " If Christ be held by death, then 
the aim and end of human life is fixed on this side the 
grave." Oh, my friends, do not deceive yourselves ! All 
that you are wont to inscribe, for your own consolation, 
upon the tombs of your departed loved ones, of their being 
gone home, of glory, of heavenly crowns, and of meeting 
again, all this falls irrecoverably away like the " baseless 
fabric of a vision" with the removal of that pillar upon 
which alone it rests securely — the historical fact of the 
resurrection of Jesus. With the denial of the miraculous 
event of Easter, the brightest star in the firmament of life is 
extinguished — the star of hope ; and no Plato, no Aristotle, 
nor any other of the wise men of this world, no matter with 
how many laurel wreaths fame may have encircled his name, 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



73 



is able to rekindle its splendour. But how comes it to pass 
that they who set their sails full in the gale of unbelief do 
not go through life, like the disciples of Emmaus, sighing 
with downcast heads ? Because for a while they succeed in 
busying themselves in the element of the temporal and per- 
ishable, and in forcibly ejecting from their minds all anxiety 
respecting the world beyond. Only wait a while ; for them 
also dark cloudy days are in store, since they must needs 
confirm in their own experience the truth, that where there 
is no Lord of the resurrection, there night reigns, and man 
must pass through a desert of inconsolable despair. 

But to return to our pilgrims ; — there they go ! The 
hilly road to Emmaus brings them near the tombs of the 
Judges. " Ye ancient heroes," might they say to themselves, 
"full many a year have ye lain there! But do ye sleep in 
hope ? Who is there now to assure you that you do so V 
Throughout their journey, nature presented herself to the 
two travellers in all the glory and beauty of spring. But 
smiling nature only discovers her charms to the cheerful, 
whilst she leaves the afflicted still disconsolate. But it must 
not escape us that a few rays of comfort, as if from some 
distant star twinkling before their tearful vision, slightly 
lessened their mental darkness. These rays emanated partly 
from the message brought by their dearly- loved sisters, 
though their reception of it was mingled with so many 
doubts, and partly from their not having wholly forgotten 
their Master's declaration with reference to the reconstruc- 
tion of the temple on the third day after it had been broken 
in pieces by the hands of His adversaries, (John ii. 19 ;) but, 
above all, from the sublime figure of the Master himself 
which they could not recall without the question forcing 
itself on their attention, whether it were possible to conceive 
that God, the holy and righteous, should really have given 
up this, His obedient, sinless, and wholly blameless One, 



74 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



abandoning Him as a permanent prey to death. And does 
not the same experience occur at times to unbelievers even 
now ? Do they not see, darting suddenly through the night 
in which they walk, flashes of lightning which reveal to 
them, momentarily at least, the superhuman majesty and 
glory of Jesus Christ ? When a lively recollection awakens 
up within them how that Christ, of whom they desire to 
know nothing, has conquered the world, and impressed it 
with an essentially different form, — when as from one 
mighty choir all the jubilant shouts of the believing hosts, 
who through faith have, during eighteen centuries, van- 
quished the world, sin, distress, and death, strike upon their 
ears, — when their eye settles upon the interminable line of 
honourable monuments which, in the form of temples, chari- 
table institutions, works of artistic genius, and every other 
tribute of grateful affection, have been raised to that " Son 
of man" by those who, living and dying, had in Him found 
peace, — or occasionally when the churches, by their holiday 
chimes, seem to say, " Behold millions throughout the world 
crowding our gates, either with a clearly-defined purpose, or 
from involuntary habit, to join those who with songs of 
praise and homage bow the knee in worship to Him who 
lay in the cradle, hung on the cross, and burst the bands of 
the grave ; " — does not sheet-lightning from the highest 
heavens at such a moment blaze upon the infidel darkness 
of the deniers of the Bible and of Christ, forcing on them 
a conviction of the superhuman majesty of the Lord Jesus, 
and strong enough at least to rob them of every ground of 
excuse for a fresh relapse into their old unbelief ? 

But let us listen to the dialogue of our two travellers. It 
is, on the one hand, affecting to notice how zealously they 
are engaged in reconstructing, if possible, the mansion of 
peace, laid in ruins by their Master's death, in which they 
had been so happy : and, on the other hand, how from fear 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



75 



of renewed, and therefore more painful illusion, they strive 
against any incipient hope, as soon as it is presented to their 
consciousness ; and how, even in spite of their own better 
convictions, they wilfully reject the message from the tomb 
brought by the women, and try to pronounce that to be in 
some way a natural appearance, which the apostles declared 
that they had seen there. Would that all who do not believe 
now, should find themselves similarly disposed, so that the 
still prevailing scepticism within them should be accom- 
panied by a sufficient love to gospel truth to waken up 
solicitude, lest a notion so eagerly embraced should subse- 
quently prove but a mere delusion ! We might then an- 
nounce to them with all confidence that the hour was not 
far distant when, having overcome all the stumbling-blocks 
in their way to the kingdom of God, and perfectly assured 
of their interest therein, they would at length enter it 
rejoicing and exulting. But to the majority of our unbe- 
lievers that plaintive as well as complaining utterance of our 
Lord, with reference to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, is, 
alas ! more applicable, " How would I have gathered thee as 
a hen her chickens under her wings, but ye would not ! " 

II. A strong sensation of pleasure pervaded the minds of 
the two pilgrims at the thought that their Master, really 
raised to life, might meet them again. But they seek, as 
has been suggested, energetically to ward off such a delight- 
ful idea, as being only too well calculated to render them 
doubly sensible of their desperate condition. They walk on, 
overpowered and benighted by the dark imagery of the 
crucifixion. When, lo ! a third person, with friendly saluta- 
tion, suddenly joins them. They return his greeting, and 
hastily scan him from head to foot, but without recognition; 
they suppose that he is one of the pilgrims who had been 
up to the feast, and is now returning home from Jerusalem. 
It had been so ordered that they should not yet know him. 



76 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



For the wisest of purposes, " their eyes were holden," (Luke 
xxiv. 16.) Yes, theirs were ; but why not ours also ? With 
throbbing hearts we chant our Easter Hallelujah to the 
veiled Stranger. All our salvation, all our hope, rests upon 
this Man, as we see Him there, standing before us in His 
new life. Suppose Him withdrawn, and there we are for- 
lorn and with no security for our future destiny. But who 
can be unaffected by the Shepherd's faithfulness, which has 
impelled Him in this instance to follow these two scattered 
sheep of His fold ! Oh, how frequently is this confession 
heard in the circle of believers : " Long ere I knew Him, 
He condescendingly followed me, woke me out of my dreary 
state at such a spot, with His saving hand drew me back, 
with His gentle voice warned me of the impending abyss. 
At one time He sent me an angel as a companion in the 
guise of a friend ; at another He placed a book or letter in 
my hand which recalled me to my senses just at the right 
moment; again by some incident He constrained me to 
reflect upon the nothingness of all worldly objects ; by some 
event or other He intelligibly appealed to me by name." 
You honest doubters, who really thirst after truth, when 
you shall come to the knowledge of it, will recognise His 
footsteps everywhere throughout your past career, " who 
came to seek and to save that which was lost/' and you will 
from your own experience be able to confirm the saying that 
He is truly one who " will not break the bruised reed nor 
quench the smoking flax. '' 

In order to open the conversation, the stranger asks the 
kind and sympathetic question, what they are so earnestly 
conversing about on the way, and why they are so cast down 
and sorrowful. The manner in which they open their hearts 
to him and begin to relate their whole sad story, is quite 
affecting. Indeed, they can scarcely forbear expressing some 
degree of vexation that their companion should be the only 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



77 



one of all those who had come to Jerusalem to the feast 
that knew nothing of what had occurred during the last few 
days. And who would blame them for wondering at this ? 
In the account which they give, they call their Master " a 
prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the 
people." This was but an inadequate confession of their 
great Master ; still we note with joy this their descrij^tion 
of His appearance. They thus attest from their own expe- 
rience, not only the publicity, but also the reality of His 
miracles. We also hear with delight the words, " But we 
trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed 
Israel." For whatever may have been their conception of 
redemption, the great hopes which they entertained of their 
Lord give us a sure indication of the superhuman majesty 
by which they must have seen Him surrounded, even whilst 
He still lived in the form of a servant. Further, it is of 
importance to note that they unwittingly confirm the saying 
of the women, concerning the appearance of the angels at 
the empty grave of Him who " was delivered up by the 
chief priests and scribes to death/' and that they evidently 
know something of " a third day" and its associated hopes. 
Therefore, that which they assign to be the subject and cause 
of their sorrow conduces only to strengthen and confirm our 
belief, and we gladly accept them as two important witnesses 
to the truth of the gospel, despite their own unwarrantable 
doubts. It is for this reason that their unknown companion 
does not interrupt them in the outpouring of their hearts. 
Even in that which is apparently a testimony against their 
Master, they thus only witnessed for Him, and defended 
His honour. But when they had unburdened their hearts, 
the stranger considers it time for him to break silence, and 
at once to awaken the sorrowing ones from their melancholy 
and idle fancies. But what proceeds from his lips ? Is it 
some word of tender sympathy or of compassionate encour- 



78 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMATJS. 



agement? Nothing of the sort. Suddenly a shrill trumpet- 
blast strikes upon their ear. " fools," says the stranger 
to them, " and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets 
have spoken : ought not Christ to have suffered these things, 
and to enter into his glory ? " What shall we say to this 
passage ? Let ns grasp it with all our might. It is a pas- 
sage of the greatest and most encouraging import. Observe, 
first, that the mysterious Personage here brands and con- 
demns as a " folly " that unbelief which in our days is 
extolled as enlightenment, and we may rest assured that He 
calls things by their right names. Observe, in the second 
place, that He expressly gives to the prophets the honour of 
being the infallible organs and interpreters of divine revela- 
tion, and demands implicit belief for all that they have 
spoken in the name of God. But, above all, do not let it 
escape you that He here represents the sacrifice of His life 
as a necessity springing out of God's plan of redemption, as 
the indispensable condition of His exaltation, i.e., of the 
glorification of Him who was God-man, Saviour of the 
world, Sovereign of the kingdom of grace, and Head of 
His spiritual body the Church. These are extremely im- 
portant truths. Hoard them like precious jewels in the 
casket of your heart ! 

The disciples did not clearly understand the words which 
they had just heard. Surprised, amazed, confounded, they 
looked now at one another, now at the wonderful stranger. 
But the startling appeal, which penetrated their inmost souls, 
had done its work. It has shaken them out of their brood- 
ing melancholy, and inclined them to give further heed to 
the stranger. Would that the same might one day be said 
of you, ye doubters in our midst ! May you also begin to 
seek, and to inquire, and thoroughly scrutinise the matter, 
which, though scarce looked at even superficially, you now 
dare to deny ! The majority of your party desist too quickly 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



79 



from the search after truth, and remain, like indolent sailors, 
fast aground on the sandbank of unbelief. We read further 
in the Gospel, that the unknown one, beginning at Moses 
and all the prophets, expounded unto them in all the Scrip- 
tures the things concerning Himself. See here the guide, 
who will conduct you safely to the end of your journey. 
Because you do not know the Scriptures, therefore you do 
not believe. If you could only determine to plunge heart 
and soul into them, how soon would your heart burn within 
you, like the two disciples', with joyful admiration of all the 
glories with which you would find yourself surrounded ! 
How sacred is the ground on which we now tread ! How 
wonderfully sublime the new world which here receives us ! 
What a different atmosphere do we breathe, even on the very 
threshold of this book, from that which is around all other 
writings, even the productions of the greatest and most gifted 
minds ! We seem to be transplanted at once from the noise 
and bustle of a profane market-place to the holy quiet of a 
sacred palm-grove, from the workshop of daily life into the 
precincts of a sacred temple, as soon as that mysterious book, 
which has given a new form to the world, is opened before 
us. What holy, sacred personages meet us here ! The 
patriarchs walking constantly before the face of Jehovah ! 
Those heroic forms clad in divine panoply ! The prophets 
on their spiritual watch-towers, elevated by the distinct con- 
sciousness that they speak not according to their own im- 
pulses, but in the name and by the commission of the 
Almighty ! And then their prophecies and testimony ! 
Who is there who, reading them with an unprejudiced mind, 
does not perceive at the first glance the impress of their 
supernatural origin, which they carry on their brow ? These 
streams of light, which reflect the brightness of the everlast- 
ing throne ! These gold-mines, unfathomable and inexhaust- 
ible in their treasures and gems ! These echoes of paradisai- 



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TEE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



cal harmonies, elsewhere entirely unknown ! And then that 
sublime plan of redemption, disclosed to ns by these wit- 
nesses of the Spirit ; and the adorable, unchanging faithful- 
ness with which God conducts His sublime purpose to its 
final completion! On the entrance of sin into the world, 
the curse is fulminated ; but, at the same time, in order to 
incline the hearts of the fallen ones to return to the Lord, 
there is the promise of grace and of divine forgiveness. 
Then when, despite this warning, the stream of corruption 
rose higher and higher, a peculiar people is selected to carry 
down the revelation of the means of salvation for a world, 
which, without such provision, would have perished. The 
careful, providential mode in which this elect nation is led, 
discij)lined at one time by severity and at another by cle- 
mency ; the awakening of their consciences to a sense of guilt 
by the delivery of the law at Sinai ; and then the ever- 
increasing definiteness of the promises of redemption, by 
means of symbols, of typical personalities, of transparent and 
unequivocal prophetic utterances, — setting forth with aug- 
menting clearness and completeness the exalted person of 
the great Messiah, who Himself should bring in the redemp- 
tion. This Saviour rises before us, as a child, bearing the 
titles of "Prince of Peace" and of " The Eternal Father;" 
as a " Priest-king," whom David calls his Lord ; as a "com- 
forter of all who mourn," a " deliverer of them that are 
bound;" as the "Lamb of God," who bears the sins of the 
world ; as a hero who rescues the prey from the old serpent, 
the arch-enemy of God and man, whom He treads under foot. 
The mirror of prophecy represents Him as authenticating 
His divine mission by signs and wonders; as the Good 
Shepherd who goes after His lost sheep ; as giving His life 
as a sacrifice for them ; as having been taken from judg- 
ment, and crowned with honour and glory ; as living ever- 
more, and claiming the nations for His inheritance. Ages 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



81 



before His appearing He was already known, as if He had 
been already seen upon earth. And when, at length, He 
really does appear, prophecy and fulfilment, type and anti- 
type agree, not only in the main and essential features, but 
also in the most minute incidents. Could this comport with 
the natural course of things ? By no means ! Here is most 
obviously the direct hand of that God who immediately 
interferes with and manages all things. Sceptic ! turn to 
the Sacred Scriptures ; thou groper in darkness, intently 
study them, — so shalt thou soon see the morning dawn over 
thy head, as it did over those two disciples, when the Un- 
known One, walking with them in the way, led them in 
spirit through Moses and the prophets, and from their 
prophecies declared to them the future mighty " Prince of 
Peace." 

III. Let us accompany them further. Who can describe 
their agitation of mincl ? They can no longer question, even 
for a moment, that their crucified Master is other than the 
Eedeemer of the world, described by and prefigured in Moses 
and the prophets. Everything, from the cradle to the cross, 
was fulfilled in Him to the letter. But does this fulfilment 
cease at the crucifixion ? Is there no further coincidence ? 
Should there not be a keystone, and is this keystone want- 
ing ? Does this pyramid of life want the topmost stone ? 
Does the healthy, vigorous tree, instead of developing its 
leafy crown, abruptly terminate in a stump ? To the two 
disciples this appeared inconceivable. Hope revives within 
them. Of a truth, every line of the picture in their memories, 
stroke for stroke, had been reproduced in Him. And shall 
the last, the only remaining feature, — that of victory over 
death in the resurrection, — be alone wanting ? If death 
held Him, where then was the body ? They, the disciples, 
had not carried it away. Had His enemies, perhaps, done 
so ? Impossible ! For had He been in their hands, would 

F 



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THE DISCIPLES AT EMMA US. 



they not publicly have exhibited the corpse, and have tri- 
umphed, saying, " See ! here is your vaunted Prince of 
Peace, on whom all your hopes are fixed." These thoughts, 
or similar ones, may have been weighed one after another in 
the mental scales of the good men, and we understand what 
they mean when we afterwards hear them say, " Did not our 
hearts burn within us, while He talked with us by the way?" 

They arrive at Emmaus. The Unknown made as though 
He would go further and part from them ; but their fervent 
wish is that He should not, and they begin to beg and con- 
strain Him, saying, "Abide with us, for it is toivards even- 
ing, and the day is far spent" Who is not familiar with 
this earnest request, this pathetic appeal, which, though not 
always rightly understood, finds an echo in the hearts of all 
who ever heard it ? It contains incomparably more than the 
words seem to express. This was no secret to their com- 
panion. It was whilst they walked with Him, and He led 
them through the writings of Moses and the prophets, that 
they first became convinced how imperatively poor sinners 
like themselves, condemned by the law, needed a Saviour, a 
propitiator, and an intercessor between them and the Lord 
God. But what if a more blessed thing still could happen 
to them, if their unknown friend had also in reserve for them 
the message that their Master really was alive again ? The 
very thought of this might make them shout aloud for joy. 
Heaven is opened to them by this possibility. For then 
their Jesus would really be the Saviour whom they needed. 
Then, before the whole world, the everlasting Father would 
have accredited and crowned Him in this character. Then 
neither Moses, nor Satan, nor their own conscience could 
accuse them any more. They saw themselves <c accepted of 
God in the beloved." What an intimate friend would then 
have been restored to them in Him ! what a surety, not only 
for their personal existence after death, but also for their 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



83 



future glorious change and exaltation in their Father's house ! 
Do you still wonder that you hear them intreat so urgently, 
so pressingly, " Abide with us, abide with us ? " Learn 
from this why the eyes of the disciples were " holden that 
they should not know Him." What would it have profited 
them if their companion had revealed Himself to them when 
they first met ? Truly they would have been overwhelmed 
with joyous astonishment, but it would have been astonish- 
ment without light and without clearness of apprehension. 
They would have hailed their risen Saviour vehemently, ex- 
ultingly, but they would not have had any just appreciation 
of the real import of His resurrection. Meeting them, as 
He now does, after they have been enlightened by the word 
of God, they know what they have in Him ; their joy has a 
firm foundation ; their rejoicing has a well-defined object. 

"Abide with us." These words bespeak blissful anticipa- 
tion and expectation ; we see in them the first blush of that 
spiritual dawn which rose upon their minds towards the end 
of their walk, and preluded the glorious noon-tide of Easter- 
day. You are now in a position to appreciate the joy of the 
disciples when the companion who joined them on the way 
yields to their entreaties to stay. They take Him to a rustic 
cottage, the home of one of them, and, bidding Him a hearty 
welcome there, hasten to prepare a simple meal. When the 
table is spread, and they are all seated around it, the guest 
rises to officiate as master of the house. "Oh," they both 
think, " that is just as He used to do when He lived and 
walked with us." But they do not yet perceive who it is 
that is standing before them. He takes the bread. What 
sorrowful but sweet recollections arise in their souls at the 
sight ! He gives thanks. What do they then experience ? 
do they dream ? The tone ! the spirit ! the unction ! — all, 
all are just as He used to pray ! He breaks the bread — 
exactly so He was wont to do ! He offers it to them ; but 



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THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



let others take it. They stand as though petrified ; for all 
of a sudden their eyes have been opened — " Yes, it is He ! " 
it is He himself — "Assuredly He lives/' They are in the 
act of prostrating themselves and clasping His feet; but 
they may no longer do so. Their previous intercourse with 
Him now yields to another higher and more spiritual. Ere 
they could realise the fact, the risen glorified Messiah, for it 
was He, had vanished out of their sight. But why had they 
not long previously divined who it was that had borne them 
company? They cannot even account for it themselves. 
"Did not our hearts burn within us," we hear them cry, 
" while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened 
to us the Scriptures ?" But now, without a moment's delay, 
they hasten through the still night on the wings of joy back 
again to Jerusalem. In what different terms do they now 
hail the sepulchre of the ancient judges from those in which, 
when passing, they saluted it as they sallied forth from the 
city ; and in what a totally different light does the whole 
world appear to them now, though still outwardly sunless, 
for the Risen One is henceforth their Sun ! Arriving at 
Jerusalem, they go to the house of John ; they no sooner 
join the circle of the disciples there than they are greeted 
with the joyful exclamation, " The Lord is risen indeed, and 
hath appeared to Simon." The two highly-favoured ones 
can confirm this triumphant testimony by what they have 
both seen and heard. Every countenance beams with over- 
flowing joy. But after their surging feelings had somewhat 
subsided, the brethren from Emmaus had to narrate what 
they had experienced, and they related most minutely all 
that had happened to them on their homeward journey, and 
" how He was known of them in breaking of bread." 

Thus have our two pilgrims entered the glorious sun- 
illumined Easter world, where death has lost its sting, where 
the head of the old serpent is crushed, the paradisaical 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



85 



sonship to God is renewed, and the Angel of Hope again 
consoles the child of the dust, as he walks by his side. 
Blessed indeed are all they for whom a place is prepared in 
this world, illumined by the Easter Sun ! And such a place 
is open to you all ! From the depths of your soul, let such 
a prayer rise as that of the disciples of Emmaus ; because 
it is likewise night with you, and then the sun of a false 
peace and of an imaginary security will hasten to decline. 
In the breaking of the heavenly bread of inward peace with 
God by Him, you would recognise in Him your only Saviour, 
and the author of your bliss. And if you did but learn, 
from the deepest inmost conviction of your heart, to say 
with the patriarch, " I know that my Eecleemer liveth," you 
would immediately, like him, be raised aboye the mighty 
ones of this earth, and would unite triumphantly in the old 
Easter hymn : — 

" On this day, most blest of days ! 
Let us keep high festival, 
For our God hath shew'd His grace, 
And our Sun hath risen on all, 
And our hearts rejoice to see 
Sin and night before Him flee. 

Hallelujah ! " 
Lather, translated Miss WinJcworth. 



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THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



VII. 

THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 

SECOND MEDITATION. 

HIGH up the Missouri river in North America, just beyond 
all the settlements, and where a vast tract of country is as 
yet undisturbed in its primeval state, there is a double sign- 
post standing in a boundless prairie. It indicates on one 
of its arms, " To Mexico/' on the other, " To California/' 
How many a wanderer, following one or other of these 
waymarks, has been lost, and has perished in the pathless, 
unpeopled wilderness for want of signposts further on ! The 
ministers of the Word would be like that signpost, if they 
contented themselves by calling out in general terms, "Ye 
must repent and believe, if ye would attain eternal life." 
Their duty is rather to raise signposts here and there on the 
road to safety and to heaven, and with the prophet (Isa. xxx. 
21) to declare unto you, " This is the way, walk ye in it, 
turning neither to the right hand nor to the left." The 
peerless Gospel of Easter-day, which we are now about to 
consider for the second time, is in itself a sufficient guide, 
shewing practically, step by step, the way of salvation, with 
such accuracy that whoever does not wilfully blind himself, 
cannot overlook, mistake, or miss it. 

Luke xxiv. 13-34. 

Let us return once more to this beloved Gospel ; but 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



87 



not as if we deemed it possible to exhaust the fulness of 
thought contained in it, for it is inexhaustible ; but simply 
because we wish to bring nearer to your understandings, as 
well as to your hearts, several topics upon which we could 
touch but slightly in our first meditation. To carry this out, 
let us in the first place see who there is amongst us whose 
tone of mind corresponds with that exhibited by the disciples 
of Emmaus ; secondly, in ivhat manner there may be an 
essential coincidence of experience in that ivhich may betide 
us in oar path of life, and in that ivhich occurred to the 
two travellers on theirs to Emmaus ; and, thirdly, when the 
moment arrives, that it may also be justly said of us, that 
the Easter sun is risen upon us. 

Oh, that whilst thus mutually engaged, this Sun would 
burst forth upon us with His blissful heavenly rays ! 

I. The two disciples, whom we see leave Jerusalem late in 
the afternoon of the day of the resurrection, had suffered 
shipwreck in their faith. Unhappily we meet in the present 
day with many who resemble them in their experience and 
its results. Since the two disciples had seen their Master 
grow pale in death, it seems as though they had for ever 
given up His cause, with all the comfort also which they had 
derived from it, and all the hopes which they had based 
upon it. Alas, thousands in our own day might say to them, 
" We have done that long ago." But among those who have 
fallen away to unbelief, important differences exist. There 
are, in the first place, numbers who never did believe. Pious 
parents have never raised the tiny hands of these pitiable 
ones in prayer. The well-known verse— 

" Expand Thy wings, Jesus ! 
And nestle me, Thy little one," 

has never sounded from their lips. Perhaps at school they heard 
this and that about J esus, about His teaching and His miracles; 



88 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



but probably, what they did hear of Him came to them only 
in a diluted or stunted form, or only as a mere letter without 
spirit and life. It did not warm their hearts ; it did not 
kindle within them a longing for a nearer view and a more 
living apprehension. It awakened no blissful anticipation in 
them, like that which elicited the exclamation from the man 
in the Gospel, " Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the 
kingdom of God." From their infancy upwards they have 
never known any other kingdom than the kingdom of this 
world, where no interest scarcely is felt beyond the trivial 
matters, " What shall we eat ? what shall we drink ? or 
wherewithal shall we be clothed ? " These spiritually-ne- 
glected ones, to whose worldly, prejudiced consciousness the 
gospel is as though it were not, and who have no idea of 
the splendour of that world of glory which Christ has re- 
vealed to His people, wholly, differ in their moral bias from 
the disciples of Emmaus, and we can only commend them to 
Almighty God, and intreat for them His free grace. Others, 
indeed, have once had a holier, happier time, though only in 
childhood. They were amongst the children who sang 
" hosannas " to the Lord Jesus. They were deeply interested 
in all that they heard of Him, and especially in the fact that 
He had shewn himself so good and so gracious. They rejoiced 
that He, having little children before Him, had said, " Suffer 
little children to come unto me, and forbid them not ; for of 
such is the kingdom of heaven." And how joyously and hope- 
fully could they then raise folded hands heavenwards, when 
aught awakened solicitude ; were it that they commended a sick 
father or mother, or any other sufferer in their family circle, 
to God ; or were it a petition to the throne of grace for some 
other desired blessing. But now they are grown up, they 
have become " enlightened," and have read newspapers and 
clever books, and loftily boast that they have climbed the 
heights of modern culture, and that with their childish habits 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



89 



they likewise cast away their former faith, hope, trust, and 
prayer. Theirs is a lost paradise. But with a smile of 
fancied superiority, they now say that there was a time when 
they well-nigh might have relied upon that " beautiful legend, 
of the gospel" as though it had been a real world. Between 
such objects of commiseration as these and the two travellers 
to Emmaus, there is nought akin ! We have still less hope of 
them than of those first described. Severe visitations of Pro- 
vidence only are calculated to bring about a change of mind 
in their case. 

But now let me introduce to you a third class. To it be- 
long those who also look back to a beautiful past which has 
disappeared, because they had become far more at home in 
the world of gospel belief, and had drunk far richer comforts 
and joys from its wells than the last-mentioned ones ; but to 
them that world has no less sunk in ruins under the assault 
of a new teaching hostile to the faith, and for them no longer 
exists any supernatural revelation, nor a Son of God veiled 
in the flesh, nor a Prince of Peace raised from the dead, be- 
cause they fancy it has been irrefragably demonstrated by an 
"advanced science" that nothing of the kind can be believed 
without setting at defiance all the laws of thought which 
reason has determined. In their denial of the truth they 
certainly occupy the same stand-point as those represented 
above ; nevertheless, these essentially differ from the former, 
in that they do not look back upon their lost Eden with 
wanton thoughtlessness, but with sadness and silent grief, 
and would be indeed happy if they could believe the possi- 
bility that their once beautiful and much-loved dream might 
turn out to be a reality, — if they could, from its ruins, recon- 
struct the ideal kingdom which kindled the enthusiasm of 
their simple childhood. These doubters are, indeed, akin to 
those disciples going to Emmaus, who also had given up the 
gospel as lost, since their Master had died, and His corpse, 



90 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



as they thought, had been carried away by His sworn foes. 
But, oh! with what yearnings did they recur to those days, 
now gone for ever, and how would they have rejoiced had 
they been able to find any sure ground of conviction that 
the Crucified One was nevertheless Lord of heaven, their 
Saviour, and Author of their bliss, and that as a proof He 
had not ceased to be so, He had really risen again from the 
dead. Hear them conversing by the way ! Every word 
breathes the deepest longings for the restoration of their 
shattered paradise. But when such a frame of mind accom- 
panies scepticism, however outspoken it may be, we consider 
ourselves fully authorised to entertain the most favourable 
opinion as to the issue. 

II. There go our pilgrims. Lo ! a third has joined them. 
We know who it is. But it must still remain concealed from 
them. After the stranger has induced them to reveal to Him 
the cause of their sorrow, He first arouses them from their 
gloomy dreaminess and stupor by rebuking them as "fools 
and slow of heart" because of their unbelief, and then He 
expounds to them all the Old Testament prophecies, from 
Moses downwards, which refer to the great Messiah, to His 
wonderful life on earth, and also to His passion, death, and 
resurrection. Then their hearts begin to burn within them, 
although they have no idea who it is that is speaking to 
them. The like is still experienced among unbelievers, pro- 
vided they belong to the more serious and thoughtful doubters. 
Quiet hours of contemplation and reflection overtake us, when 
whole trains of thought pass through the soul ; the man knows 
not himself whence they come, but they seem like the exhorta- 
tions of an invisible friend who would turn us from unbelief 
to faith. The question then, perhaps, arises within us, " Is 
Christianity really the work and invention of man V — Chris- 
tianity, that spiritual power which has morally transformed 
the world, changed the face of the earth, opened the heaven 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAXJS. 



91 



above it, and even in the present clay does what no human 
science or art can ; for, as by enchantment, within a very 
short time, it not only rescues savage nations from their 
barbarism, but imparts gentleness and civilisation ; it trans- 
forms lions into lambs ! — Christianity, which raises man 
above himself, presents to him the ideal of a higher destiny 
than ever before entered into any human heart ; it reveals to 
him a sanctity of which no philosopher of this world ever 
dreamed, and to which the noblest characters recorded in the 
history of the last eighteen hundred years owe their being 
and their inmost life. Can that possibly be of earthly origin 
and the offspring of the human brain? And was Christ 
himself really but a man, — He who had indisputably de- 
clared Himself openly and publicly to be He who had come 
down from heaven ? Apart from the testimony of the Bible, 
are we not assured of it by the tradition of the Jews, down 
to the present time, that He was crucified by their fathers 
because He made Himself equal with God ? Is it conceiv- 
able that His contemporaries should have falsely attributed 
to a mere man the divine miracles, and that divine splendour 
of glory in which, for example, the fourth Gospel represents 
Him to us ? But that this Gospel was written by a contem- 
porary and disciple of Jesus, by John, is now placed beyond 
all doubt. Arid assuming that which is inconceivable, 
namely, that the miracles of Jesus were only fictitious, who 
amongst those who saw Jesus bodily moving among them 
would ever have believed such fictions? But it is an un- 
deniable fact that, within a short time, thousands from their 
own observations really believed that the man of Nazareth 
was the only-begotten Son of the Father, and that they 
acknowledged Him, for time and for eternity, as the Saviour 
of their souls, accredited by God. And can it be denied that 
He unequivocally foretold that He, with His fishermen and 
publicans, should conquer the world, and that He would 



92 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



build on the ruins of the old temple a new one, made of 
living stones,— a spiritual temple, which should be co-exten- 
sive with the whole world ? And has not this prophecy been 
literally fulfilled? And His resurrection — is this really 
nothing but a fable ? Where then was the corpse laid ? Put 
out of the way by the Jews ? Impossible ! For how could 
these infuriated adversaries have foregone the opportunity of 
destroying at a blow the kingdom which they so much hated, 
by exhibiting at the right moment His bloody corpse ? Did 
the apostles then carry Him away ? Well, then, their enthu- 
siasm would have been shewn for one now dead, who had, 
whilst living, most bitterly deceived them ; they would then 
have joyfully staked everything, even blood and life, for a 
false Messiah ; they would then fain have won over the 
highly-cultured nations of Greece and Koine to the banner 
of one who, manifestly, had been branded as a blasphemer 
by God himself. And Paul would then, in his First Epistle 
to the Corinthians, which no one in the present day presumes 
to deny . to be his, have borne testimony, which he boldly 
does, that any contemporary of the apostle, to whom the great 
fact might have appeared difficult of credit, might meet with 
numbers then living, both ocular and oral witnesses of it, for 
Christ had, subsequently to His resurrection, presented Him- 
self to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom but few 
hart the™ died. And as to His portraiture by the prophets — 
is there room for doubt when it is revealed in the person of 
Jesus to the minutest features? And how clearly is the 
divine plan of redemption revealed to us in the writings of 
the Old and New Testament. Did it not demand the death, 
and also, as a confirmation of the now completed work of 
redemption, the resurrection and glorification of Him who 
carried out the divine decree? These, and like considera- 
tions, are wont to press themselves on thoughtful persons 
who are in a state of unbelief. Unexpectedly, and as from 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



93 



the clouds, they dart like lightning through the soul. Their 
" hearts burn within them." Their inner man is a battle- 
field. Their whole soul is in the greatest commotion. The 
entire edifice of their unbelief is suddenly shaken to its very 
foundation, and they feel themselves heaving with great pre- 
sentiments and hopes. In them the experience of the dis- 
ciples going to Emmaus is repeated. At such moments the 
Lord is speaking to them by His Spirit, though they are as 
yet unconscious that He is so near. Truly, they do not find 
themselves transported at once into the region of perfect faith, 
but, at least, the possibility is evident to them that they may 
yet find themselves entirely at home in the domain of faith. 

III. From the extraordinary discourse of their unknown 
companion, whilst journeying to Emmaus, it appeared to our 
two disciples that an eventuality was suggested, the bare 
idea of which transported them. How intently and hope- 
fully they listen to every word which falls from His lips ! 
But see, they have reached their journey's end. Their friend 
makes as though He is going further. But how beseechingly 
do they beg and pray, " Abide with us : for it is towards 
evening, and the day is far spent." In these words the point 
of time is indicated in which the rising of the Easter Sun 
may be expected with certainty by every one. When even- 
ing gloom comes over our life, then morning will soon dawn, 
but never before. The evening shadows already draw on, 
when, with just light enough to discover the insignificance 
of our former life, we begin to feel the mental vacuity 
experienced in all that the world offers us : when the sigh 
which escaped the heart of Solomon bursts forth from ours 
— " Vanity of vanities ! all is vanity ! " and that which we 
once called pleasure now appears so insipid, and worldly 
honour only a child's toy. When we are troubled by the 
thought that we have wholly missed the aim of existence, 
because life has been consumed in the merest trifles, when 



94 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



our way becomes more and more isolated, because the 
churchyard sod covers those we love best, the world appears 
stranger, colder, and more desolate, and the tree of hope 
sheds one withered leaf after another. Oh, then it is 
that our day seems "far spent !" And if, then, thoughts of 
eternity, awakening dread, gather around our soul, and we 
have to account to ourselves as to what we have to shew as 
lasting gain and profit from our former life ; if we have to 
ask ourselves, in the event of death knocking at our door, 
either to-day or to-morrow, what grounds we have to antici- 
pate a favourable sentence when arraigned before the Judge 
of the world, and what the real state of the case has been, 
and is now, about our " loving God with all our heart," and 
about our " being faithful in that which is least as in that 
which is greatest f if our own conscience, as an inexorable 
accuser, finds us guilty of the most decided alienation from 
God, and it seem as though all openings through which a 
ray of comfort or hope could penetrate to us, were closed ; — 
when overtaken by that bitterness of reflection which is 
inspired by the feeling that life with us has missed its aim, 
which state of mind is so far beyond relief by all worldly 
wisdom, that it but exposes its naked impotence by attempt- 
ing it, and when utter despair in all that is called human 
consolation or human help extorts from the heart the cry of 
distress, " wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver 
me from the body of this death ? " — yes, then evening has 
overtaken us ! And oh, what would then be to us such a 
Friend as the gospel exhibits ! But now that our necessities 
£te brought to our knowledge, to which such a Friend per- 
fectly corresponds, behold a Friend who declares to sinners 
the forgiveness of sins ; to doubters, the pledge of everlasting 
life, by pointing them to His own resurrection ; to the gaze 
of weary travellers, the blessed rest of heaven in sure and 
certain prospect ; and who discloses to the poor in spirit, 



THE DISCIPLES AT EMMAUS. 



95 



and those who are mentally famishing here, a beautiful 
world, replenished with the exjoerience of heavenly joys, and 
who promises to the solitary and bereaved an everlasting 
reunion with the loved ones whom they mourn. Oh, now 
the eye of faith can see its way, and it will be easy for the 
heart to repeat in faltering accents the prayer of the disciples 
of Emmaus — " It is now evening, and the day is far spent ; 
deserted by all, Thou who art my last refuge, abide with 
me." And however timorously the yearning spirit may 
utter it at first, it will not be long before the scene at 
Emmaus will be repeated. The Lord breaks to us the 
bread of His comfort, of His peace ; and this heavenly food 
once tasted, we shall immediately be illumined with the 
Easter Sun, and joyfully exclaim, "Jesus lives, and with 
him I likewise." By God's grace, may this happen to us 
all, and may the risen Prince of Peace say His "Yea and 
Amen," whilst we pray with the poet — 

" Then break through our hard hearts Thy way, 
Jesus ! conquering King ! 
Kindle the lamp of faith to-day, 
Teach our faint hearts to sing, 
For joy at length, 
That in Thy strength 
We, too, may rise, whom sin had slain, 
And Thy eternal rest attain." 

Lyra Germanka. 



96 



THE PEINCE OP PEACE 



VIII. 

THE PKINCE OF PEACE IN THE EVENING 

ASSEMBLY. 

We hear the royal singer, in Psalm lv. 7, utter the sigh, 
" Oh that I had wings like a dove ! for then would I fly- 
away, and be at rest." Do not these words sound wonder- 
fully stirring ? Do they not awake in us feelings like those 
that moved the heart of the Psalmist ? There is an innate 
longing in man to escape beyond the narrow limits of this 
imperfect world into higher regions. Anxiety about vulgar 
and common objects may to all appearance stifle the emo- 
tion, but even where man is not sunk so low, it not unfre- 
quently lies for a length of time dormant within him. But 
it is remarkable that this tendency of the soul is wont to 
revive just when the most beautiful, pleasing, and exalted 
objects in nature are presented to us. It is when we walk 
in the awful stillness peculiar to the heights of mountain 
ranges, or stand lost in admiration of the majestic spectacle 
of sunrise or sunset, or indulge ourselves in the glorious 
season of spring, surrounded by the divine creative breath 
as we walk about its blooming scenes, or, again, allow our 
ravished eye to wander through the far-sparkling host of 
stars : it is on such occasions that, ere we are aware, we 
breathe forth in tender and gentle accents proceeding from 
the inmost soul, " Oh that I had wings like a dove ! " It 
seems to me as though, in all the beauty which surrounds 



IN THE EVENING ASSEMBLY. 



97 



us, we saw but the reflection of the dawn of something 
incomparably more glorious ; but from which we are sepa- 
rated by an immeasurable gulf. Yes ; and with this dim 
remembrance of a lost paradise is mingled the thought, that 
though we were long ago deprived of it, nevertheless it is 
not lost to us for ever. We have a dim presentiment of 
the existence of an ideal world, and feel it to be that for 
which we were created and born. In the longing language 
of, " Oh that I had wings ! " the soul breathes forth its 
aspirations after it, and would fain burst through all barriers 
in order to soar up to it, to take its place amongst the angelic 
host ; and with them, in the light of Gods countenance, to 
discover the solution of all problems and the unsealing of 
all mysteries. The perfect satisfaction of this deep-seated 
and mighty longing, at some future time, is faithfully pro- 
mised to the friends of God. They will be furnished with 
" the wings of a clove ; " yes, heaven will come down to 
earth, and they will blend together into one world. If ever 
a delicate, fragrant prototype of that future, worthy certainly 
of the warmest desires, has appeared on earth, it was during 
those forty days when the Prince of Peace, raised again 
from death to a new life, communed with His disciples, clad 
in His glorified body. We will now revert in spirit to that 
delightful period which has, and not without reason, been 
said to represent a foreshadowing of that perfect kingdom of 
God upon earth which is revealed in prophecy. Who would 
not like to linger on the spot where the " Oh that I had 
wings ! " should be silenced for a season ? because we should 
feel as though the passionate impulse which prompted its 
utterance had received already its full satisfaction. 

Mark xvi 14; Luke xxiv. 36-48; John xx. 19, 20. 
" Then the same day at evening, being the first clay of the week, when 
the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled fpr fear of the 
Jews, came Jesus unto the eleven, as they sat at meat, and saith unot 

G 



98 



THE PRINCE OP PEACE 



them, Peace be unto you ! But they were terrified and affrighted, and 
supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he upbraided them with their 
unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had 
seen him after he was risen : and he said unto them, Why are ye so troubled? 
and why do thoughts arise in your hearts ? Behold my hands and my feet 
that it is I myself : handle me, and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and 
bones as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them 
his hands and his feet. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the 
Lord. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said 
unto them, Have ye any meat ? And they gave him a piece of broiled fish 
and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. And he 
said unto them, These are the words that I spake unto you, while I was 
yet with you : that all things must be fulfilled which were written in Moses 
and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he 
their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And said 
unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to 
rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins 
should be preached in his name among all nations. And ye are witnesses 
of these things." 

The scene now brought under our consideration is of the 
highest importance. It crowns all the manifestations which 
our Lord made of Himself upon the day of the resurrection ; 
the first real celebration of Easter by the company of the 
redeemed disciples, the concentration into one focus of all 
the single rays which the miracle of the third day had up 
to that time thrown upon the night of the world, and under 
its powerful working, the faith of the little flock in the resur- 
rection advanced much nearer to its " full maturity/' Let 
us contemplatively approach the scene so full of meaning, 
and observe, in the first place, the Easter greeting of the 
risen Saviour ; then the manner of His appearing ; and, 
lastly, His Easter testimony. May the Spirit of the Lord 
illumine us with His light, and likewise crown our words 
with a lasting blessing ! 

I. Let us return to that late evening assembly whither we 
conducted the disciples from Emmaus. There we find the 
disciples and 'the women still engaged in earnest conversation 



IN THE EVENING ASSEMBLY. 



99 



with each other. But the lateness of the hour suggests no 
thought of departure or of separation. Easter-day is already- 
dawning brightly above them ; yet many of them, unaffected 
by the full sunshine of evidence, still grope in the mists of 
doubt and faintheartedness. Joy in the ascendant certainly 
ruled the spirits of the cordially attached company ; but it 
still was in some measure restricted and depressed with many 
a fear and anxiety. The brethren who brought such glad 
tidings might still possibly have been deceived and mistaken. 
And even if they were not so, it was quite conceivable that 
the risen Saviour might not again appear to them, that they 
would be left in ignorance as to His person and their own 
future. Moreover, who could assure them that the Jews, 
fearing lest the disciples should make the people believe that 
their Master had really left the grave alive, would not fall 
stealthily upon them ; and taking their lives, would not en- 
deavour to root out of the earth the scarce germinating seed 
of the infant Church of Christ ? The closely -barred doors of 
the room in which we find them assembled prove that the 
thought of this eventuality had made them anxious. 

What a dismal and horrible thing is fear ! It hangs like 
a leaden weight on our energies ; and like a concealed but 
destructive worm, it gnaws' away all we cherish as happiness, 
joy, and peace. It covers our sky with blackness, and renders 
the air which surrounds us so dense that breathing becomes 
difficult. It nails us to a cross of deep inward discomfort, 
and in the diffident and retiring man it quenches his love, 
together with his cheerfulness and serenity. And is not this 
destroyer the hereditary portion of us all? It lurks from 
our very birth in the heart of every human being. It may 
doze ; but the rustling of a leaf suffices to rouse it. It reposes 
in the breast of every one like a lightly-sleeping lion, and the 
boldest hero will not maintain that he knows nothing of this 
monster. Think only of the amount of dark superstition 



LOFC. 



100 



THE PEINCE OF PEACE 



still found in the civilised world ; of the horror of appari- 
tions, from which few are entirely free ; of the choice of lucky- 
days on which anything is to be undertaken ; of the idolatry 
practised with amulets, talismans, charms, and magic for- 
mulas ; as well as of the importance attached to a hundred 
sorts of so called " signs or prognostications/' but which are 
indeed in themselves destitute of all significance. Whence 
comes all these ? Fear, the lamentable and universal dowry 
of our fallen nature, is the parent of all these things. How 
truly does Job speak when he says, " Is there not an appoint- 
ed warfare to man upon earth ? And are not his days also 
like the days of an hireling ? " and Paul, also, when he ex- 
claims, " Without were fis;htin^s, within were fears/' Ob- 
serve mankind. Is not their prevalent tone of mind that of 
one who everywhere discovers powers conspiring against him, 
from which he must protect himself, against which he must 
arm himself ? At one time he sees himself threatened with 
the loss of property, at another he fears injury to his health ; 
at one time he dreads the loss of influential patronage, at 
another he is afraid of the dissolution of the dearest ties of 
love and friendship. And if these things, or such as these, 
do not rob him of his rest, yet he is terrified by the incessant 
flight of time, by the perception of the transient nature of 
all earthly things, the feeling that old age is hastening on 
like a hurricane, and close behind is the dusky figure of the 
king of terrors, the inevitable angel of death lying in wait 
for him ; his conscience, moreover, murmurs more than he 
likes to hear about a judgment to come, and however ear- 
nestly he may strive to silence it, he never succeeds in the 
attempt. This hateful inmate is intractable, and scorns every 
attempt to bribe or stupify him. Thus the poor offspring 
of Adam is always and everywhere trying to escape, and 
nobody will wonder that he dislikes to be alone, and seeks 
to forget himself and to avoid self -reflection in a whirl of dis- 



IN THE EVENING ASSEMBLY. 



101 



sipation. And should this device succeed for a while, fear, that 
gloomy demon, always makes a path for itself, and its power 
increases in proportion as man is thoroughly relieved from 
falsehood, and as he advances in the line of truth. I do not 
need to remind you in what degree, or to what extent fear 
rules the minds of men in our days. How frequently do we 
hear it said, and that in the gravest manner, " What will be- 
come of society, for the world is at its wits' end ? " With 
what are we menaced by these dark clouds, or by those which 
beset our horizon ? In our clay there are assuredly not a few 
among us who will feel themselves to be more nearly related 
to the disciples assembled within the barred doors, than they 
ever previously did, in this one respect at least, and will 
more truly than ever envy them the greeting which suddenly 
resounded throughout the evening gathering, and in one mo- 
ment transformed all their anxieties and cares into the purest 
delight. 

What greeting ! listen to it ! Whilst the disciples, in the 
greatest perturbation, are still discussing the events of the 
day, over and over again expressing their doubts, and then 
checking them, communicating to each other their apprehen- 
sions, and again suggesting their hopes, suddenly through 
their midst is heard, in heart- stirr in gr accents well known to 
them, a distinct, "Peace be unto you !" The din of conver- 
sation is hushed into solemn stillness. The disciples, taken 
by surprise, look round, and, lo ! who stands before them ? 
Dare they trust their eyes ? Yes, it is He ! Who shall 
depict their joyous amazement? He himself, the Master 
who was dead, and is alive again, stands in their midst. 
" Peace " is the first word with which He hails them ; 
11 peace" sweet, blessed sound ! W T hat is " peace V It is a 
calm in the inmost soul, — not the calm of one asleep or 
dreaming, but when wide awake ; it is cheerful self-com- 
posure, not only in the bare possibility of danger menaced, 



102 



THE PRINCE OP PEACE 



but realised in its very presence ; it is the deep harmony of 
the soul, not only in sunshine, but when the tempest rages 
above us and all around. But does this peace dwell in the 
valley of tribulation and of tears ? Praised be God that 
though for a season it was banished, nevertheless it has 
returned to us again. It breathes upon you from more than 
one manifestation in the history of Divine providence exer- 
cised here on earth. Its voice is heard from more than one 
mortal mouth speaking gently and soothingly to you. Truly 
no human wisdom can assist you to this peace. By no per- 
sonal efforts can you attain it — no earthly incantation can 
obtain it for you. But there is One who alone can both 
wish it may be yours, and likewise confer it. Behold, it is 
He who has just appeared here who, with a word, has dis- 
pelled all fear and solved all doubts ! Do you know Him ? 
Oh, believe it! He is the Prince of Peace. Do you ask how 
He became so ? Observe Him and His whole demeanour ; 
He entered that chamber, not only to proclaim peace to His 
disciples, but to present a sensible manifestation of it. 

II. The disciples see Him standing before them. " But," 
says the narrative, with reference to the majority at least of 
them, " they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed 
that they had seen a spirit." For a moment they held Him 
to be an apparition from another world, who, in order to 
manifest Himself, had temporarily assumed the human form. 
It seems also to be beyond all question that the Lord had 
entered the chamber without any one of the bolted doors 
having been previously opened. Some able commentators 
have certainly been of opinion that the evangelist John only 
added the observation "when the doors ivere shut," to cor- 
roborate his assertion that the disciples were assembled in 
great fear. They think that the door was opened by one 
of the disciples from Eminaus, who heard Him knock, and 
first recognised His voice. But the tenor of the Gospel nar- 



IN THE EVENING ASSEMBLY. 



103 



rative clearly indicates a miracle ; and as such the entrance 
of Christ into this evening assembly corresponds exactly with 
the peculiar manner in which He usually did appear after 
His resurrection. Truly, a bodily form subject entirely to 
the will and beck of the mind, and freed from the limita- 
tions of space and time, is wholly beyond our human com- 
prehension. But how many other things are there, the 
denial of whose existence on this account merely would be 
the grossest folly ? 

Our Lord, immediately upon His manifestation, expresses 
Himself in terms of serious reproach, exactly as He had 
clone with the disciples of Emmaus. He reproves the un- 
belief and hardness of heart of His disciples in not having 
believed those who had seen Him since His resurrection, 
and says to them, " Why are ye troubled, and ivhy do 
thoughts arise in your hearts % n This reprehensory "why" 
they had deserved. After all that they had heard and expe- 
rienced throughout that day, their spirit of incr~ lulity was 
perfectly unjustifiable. But a rebuke administered with the 
decision and energy of the most profound and most vivid 
conviction is even now, generally speaking, more calculated 
to reclaim sceptics from their unbelief in evangelical truth, 
than the adoption of an indulgent sympathy with the tissue 
of scruples and doubts frequently woven merely to promote 
self- gratification. The spark of belief from the inmost soul 
of the ^speaker, flashing with electric velocity through the 
hearer, will far more probably effect conviction and conver- 
sion than the most ingenious arguments and subtle apologies. 
Did not the apostles, during their missionary labours, exert 
the most convincing influence by the involuntary exhibition 
of their extreme surprise and righteous anger at the blind- 
ness of those who heard their testimony, and still persisted 
in their unbelief ? Every one felt that those heralds of Christ 
were thoroughly convinced of the truth of what they pub- 



104 



THE PEINCE OF PEACE 



lishecl ; and this very feeling caused the strongest defences 
to totter and give way, which had until then resisted the 
gospel of which they were the witnesses. 

The decided expression, " Why come such thoughts into 
your hearts ? " did not, we may rest assured, fail of imme- 
diate effect upon the assembled disciples, and at least, it 
quickly dispelled the idea of a mere ghostly apparition. 
With His wonted kindness, our Lord still shews Himself 
condescendingly towards them who now found themselves 
suddenly transported into a world to which they were not 
accustomed ; for, to calm their amazement He condescended 
even to stretch out His hands that they might touch them, 
and, pointing to the marks in His feet and His side, to say, 
" It is I myself: handle me and see ; for a spirit hath not 
flesh and bones as ye see me have." Evidently our Lord 
admits here, though indirectly, the possibility of the visible 
return of departed persons from the other world into this ; 
for otherwise would He not rather have said, " Ghostly 
apparitions belong to the realms of phantasy ? " He would 
then have branded as deceptions the appearance of the 
departed Samuel before Saul, as also those of the prophets 
Moses and Elijah on Mount Tabor. It was our Lord's 
immediate purpose to convince the disciples th&t He had not 
for the moment assumed a mere unsubstantial form, but 
that He really stood before them in the very same body in 
which He had been consigned to the grave. His resurrec- 
tion was to serve to His disciples as a type, a pledge of their 
own future resurrection ; and so it came naturally to be a 
matter of the utmost importance that the reality of it should 
be placed beyond all doubt. This subject again presses upon 
us all the quer' : ons concerning the nature and constitution of 
a glorified body, and here more especially where we see the 
risen Saviour taking bread — inquiries which will probably 
never be satisfactorily solved in this present world. Has such 



IN THE EVENING ASSEMBLY. 



105 



a body really "flesh and bones ? " or does the Lord simply 
condescend to our powers of conception when He thus ex- 
presses Himself ? Has the glorified body really " flesh and 
bones" in such fashion that it can not only be seen, but 
also handled by organs not yet glorified ? Can such a body 
receive earthly food in the same manner as our own ? And 
if so, must not the food undergo a perfectly different process 
from that which we know to be the usual one? Or was 
the glorification of His body but incipient and progres- 
sive at the moment when Christ presented Himself to the 
evening assembly? and is it to be conceived of by us as 
only perfectly complete on the clay of His ascension ? We 
are here confronted by mysteries which no mortal eye can 
ever penetrate. But let us not be uneasy on this account. 
By how many phenomena in creation does the most learned 
philosopher unhesitatingly confess himself mastered, saying, 
if This and that are indisputable facts, but it is utterly im- 
possible to explain or account for them ! " Why, then, 
should not the invisible spheres, which belong to those who, 
after death, are born again to everlasting life, conceal within 
themselves equal, if not far greater, mysteries and problems ? 
Let us but have patience ! The time will come when we 
shall see all veils removed, all contradictions solved, and 
with prayerful admiration shall we behold the mysteries of 
God revealed to us in all their depths. 

When the disciples at Jerusalem see the cicatrised wounds 
in our Lord's hands, feet, and side, they then necessarily 
believe that the same Master stands before them who but 
lately lived in their midst. But their faith is, nevertheless, 
again about to waver, and now, indeed, as the narrative 
informs us, "for very joy." If we but reflect a while, it will 
not be difficult for us to realise their frame of mind. If 
Christ really were alive again, as the conqueror of death, 
then what grand and inexpressibly blessed consequences 



106 



THE PRINCE OF PEACE 



necessarily followed from this fact. Then they who up to 
that time had been so distressed saw a paradise of peace and 
hope suddenly opened to them, in which they might for ever 
forget that which had been once lost through Adam. The 
joy experienced under such circumstances was almost too 
much for them. The thought in which they were absorbed 
was, "such abundant grace to us poor sinners ! Impossible!" 
It was, indeed, the unjustifiable surrender of their privileges 
which tended to prevent the disciples from believing. But 
the riches of divine compassion should not, however, have 
been dimmed to their apprehension by the feeling, only too 
iustly entertained, of their own personal unworthiness. If 
the great God once substituted grace for justice, it is to be 
expected that He will do so superabundantly. Were the 
measure of His benefits limited by that of our desert, what 
might we anticipate ? Nothing at all. But we may expect 
everything, even the highest, since He has determined that 
free grace shall prevail. 

Our Lord commiserates those who are still faint-hearted 
and despondent. " Have ye here any meat ?" says He. At 
His request a piece of broiled fish and an honeycomb is set 
before Him. And He takes and eats it before them ; and 
now, indeed, there is no longer any doubt of the reappearance 
of the Master. John says, " Then were the disciples glad 
when they saiv the Lord." Yes ; not until now had their 
Easter feast been rung in with a full peal. They feel as if 
they had risen again from the dead themselves. An inex- 
pressibly blissful peace penetrates their hearts ; and they all 
could then unitedly exclaim, with still more fervent ardour 
than Peter on Mount Tabor, " It is good for us to be here ; 
let us erect tabernacles." How far they then surmised the 
intimate and mysterious connexion of the peaceful greeting 
of their Master with the marks of His wounds which He 
exhibited to them, it is difficult to say. Perhaps, in the 



IN THE EVENING ASSEMBLY. 



107 



latter, they recognised at the time no more than the proofs 
of His triumph over the last enemy, the king of terrors. 
Subsequently, they learned to think more highly of these, 
scars of their Redeemer, and to recognise in them both the 
pledges and the seals of the perfected atonement, and, con- 
sequently, the special sources and fountains from which 
flowed all their peace. 

III. Observe, lastly, the testimony which our Lord bears 
to His resurrection before this evening assembly. It is con- 
cise, but couched in highly significant terms. " These are 
the words," He begins, " which I spake unto you while I 
was yet with you!' He hereby intimates that His earthly 
ministry is henceforth complete, and His mission as the 
"Servant of God" is finally fulfilled and discharged. "For" 
He continues, " all things must be fulfilled which are written 
in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, 
concerning me!' Observe how, under these three heads, the 
second of which comprehends the historical books, and the 
last the writings of Solomon and Job, the whole of the Old 
Testament canon, in the form in which we now have it, is 
comprised, and how He has affixed to it the seal of indis- 
putable Divine revelation. How can any one be still dis- 
posed to deny that this Holy Volume really contains pro- 
phecies, unless they desire to accuse the Lord of glory, not 
only of fanaticism, but also of lying, nay, of the grossest 
deception. Alas ! that in our days even believing theolo- 
gians should occasionally be found who are so imposed upon 
by the ruling spirit of defection, that they are not ashamed 
to reduce the Divine prophecies in Scripture to mere human 
prognostications, thus reducing the real and living Gocl to a 
level with a dumb idol. What further witness do we need 
that those dreadful days are at hand of which the Saviour 
said, that if it were possible, " even the elect " should be led 
astray? To us, as it appears to me, Jesus Christ remains 



108 



THE PKINCE OF PEACE 



the authority which ranks high as heaven above every other 
claiming to be such here on earth. The canon, which is 
accredited with His seal on the face of it, stands superior to 
all the defects alleged by short-sighted human criticism, and 
by a vainly boasted science of carnal wisdom. It is, indeed, 
natural to man to err, but whoever follows Him who could 
say, " I am the truth" will never, never go astray. 

Our Lord "then opened their understanding, that they 
might understand the Scriptures" He not only opens up 
the Scripture to them, but He, moreover, opens their heart 
to the Scripture, making the way to it easy. And what is 
it that He presents to them from the rich treasury of the 
Divine word ? What forms the substance of His last words 
to His disciples ? According to the view which many enter- 
tain of His mission, it would have consisted of rules of virtue 
and directions for a holy life. But after His resurrection 
we nowhere hear Him saying to His disciples, " Observe 
that which I have commanded you, and follow in my foot- 
steps ; " but as in this passage, so likewise in every other, 
do we find Him pressing home evidence from the prophetic 
writings, insisting, as He did upon nothing else, that it was 
God's plan and determination that He should suffer and die ; 
and it is well known that all the selected passages from the 
Old Testament which treat of the passion of the future 
Messiah, do so as a mediatorial, vicarious, and propitiatory 
work. During those forty days He never preached morals 
and law. Certainly, as often as He appears before His dis- 
ciples, He indicates by the emphatic annunciation to them 
of His greeting of " Peace," that they should ever henceforth 
walk before God with free and unburdened consciences, 
seeing that the reconciliation was now accomplished. No- 
where does He commission His apostles to go out into the 
world to present to all the picture of virtue which His life 
portrayed^ thereby to stir up their hearers to a moral enthu- 



IN THE EVENING ASSEMBLY. 



109 



siasin which should make them worthy of heaven. But we 
hear Him say " that repentance and remission of sins " 
should be preached in His name among all nations, begin- 
ning at Jerusalem. He nowhere makes the vow of " moral 
and religious self -improvement " the first condition of en- 
trance into the kingdom of heaven ; but appoints the sacra- 
ment of baptism as the initiatory act of admission into this 
kingdom, by which the forgiveness of sins is promised to all 
those who penitently receive it, not by way of reward for 
good works previously done, but presented gratuitously, as 
an earnest and a necessary preliminary of all good works. 
Thus our risen Saviour ever places His offices as Mediator, 
Propitiator, and Prince of Peace in the foreground, in order 
that we may rest assured that our relations, as those that 
are saved with Him the Saviour, do not originate iu our 
choosing of Him as a pattern, but in. our apprehension and 
acceptance of Him as our Saviour and Eedeemer. First, 
reconciled by Him, and then transformed into His gracious 
image ! He is first our High Priest, our Mediator, and 
then our Pattern, our Guiding -star. This is the order of 
salvation, the inversion of which is diametrically to oppose 
God's plan of salvation. The experience of the grace of God 
in Christ Jesus within us, first renders sanetification pos- 
sible : for a perception of the love of God to us kindles 
reciprocated love to God, and this is " the fulfilling of the 
law" The apostles were to witness to this truth, and they 
did so. What is their whole gospel, but a testimony of the 
work of redemption finished by Christ, and of the justifica- 
tion of the sinner by grace through faith alone, without any 
act of merit on his part ? 

"Would that we likewise heartily rejoiced in this gospel ! 
The peaceful greeting of the Easter Prince still to this day 
resounds throughout the world, but it is a sound heeded but 
by few, unheard by the majority, though the world was 



110 



THE PKINCE OF PEACE, ETC. 



never more destitute of peace than at this very time. False- 
hood closes both its ear and heart. In direct opposition to 
conscience and better knowledge, men would suppress the 
acknowledgment of the fact that sin in all its forms is an 
accursed and detested abomination in God's sight ; that the 
Lord God is the holy and righteous Judge ; and that the 
apostle spoke the truth when he declared, "It is appointed 
unto men once to die, and after death the judgment." The 
world does not now need that its acuteness .should be less 
keen, as many in their ignorance believe, but that its judg- 
ment should be enlightened and quickened to a percep- 
tion of the fact, that in Christ is salvation. The advice 
best suited to the present generation is that given to the 
Church at Laodicea — "Anoint thine eyes ivith eyesalve, 
that thou may est see;" and the petition that may be recom- 
mended to them as the best is that of David, " Bring my 
soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name" All ye 
who still struggle against unbelief, use this prayer ; and may 
the Lord in His mercy enable you shortly, ay, very shortly, 
to unite in singing Luther's jubilant and triumphant resur- 
rection song with the fullest assurance of faith : — 

" Now our Paschal larnb is He, 
And by Him alone we live, 
Who to death upon the tree 
For our sakes Himself did give. 
Faith His blood strikes on our door, 
Death dares never harm us more ! 

Hallelujah ! " 

Lyra Oermanica. 



THOMAS. 



111 



IX. 

THOMAS. 

" The Lord weigheth the spirits," (Proverbs xvi. 2.) If, on 
the one hand, this passage of Solomon excite alarm, there 
is, on the other, a consolatory and encouraging aspect in 
which it may be viewed. Therefore, boast not of success 
in thy courtship of the world, for the world's applause is 
anything rather than a trustworthy admeasurement of thy 
true worth. It may come to pass that the world shall heap 
its honours upon thee, whilst the sentence given above with 
reference to thee, shall be, "weighed and found wanting !" 
But, conversely, it may also happen, that whilst the world 
passes tlie harshest judgments on thee, the order is sent 
down from heaven in thy favour, " Touch not the apple of 
mine eye!" The judicial eye of Omniscience, incorruptible 
in its nature, looks through a man's exterior and sounds the 
depths of his heart, and pierces searchingly the inmost re- 
cesses of his soul, and it may come to pass, in defiance of a 
censorious world, that a man as deeply prostrate as David 
shall be indicated and commended as " a man after God's 
own heart ; " or one like Peter, outrageously denying his 
Lord, shall become the object of the most tender Divine 
love, whilst another, who goes about with the nimbus of a 
saint shall be branded and cast off by God as a " whited 
sepulchre? And as it may be the case that one who fre- 



112 



THOMAS. 



quently has backslidden may stand higher in the sight of 
God than many another who appears to have walked in the 
way of the commandments blamelessly, so it is not to be 
confidently affirmed that he who makes a good confession 
shall always rank in the judgment of God before the doubter, 
nor even the believer, before him who is still wrestling with 
the unbelief of his heart. 

In that passage of the Gospel which is about to engage 
our attention we have an instance of a strong utterance of 
unbelief ; but, at the same time, we find therein an excellent 
opportunity to appreciate the comfort flowing from the fact 
that " God weigheth the spirits," and that God's scales 
differ from those of the short-sighted children of men who 
usually judge only according to appearances. 

John xx. 24-29. 

" But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them 
when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have 
seen the Lord. But he said uifto them, Except I shall see in his hands 
the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and 
thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days 
again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them : then came Jesus, 
the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you ! 
Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands ; 
and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side : and be not faith- 
less, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him. My Lord and 
my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou 
hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." 

What rich abundance of matter for spiritual contempla- 
tion is displayed in this passage of the Gospel ! Where 
shall we begin to consider its treasures of thought, and 
where shall we end? It would be advisable to limit our- 
selves to the consideration of that part of it which par- 
ticularly corresponds with our necessities, and which will, 
therefore, have a direct practical importance for us. Let 
us consider, then, first, how the story of Thomas confirms 



THOMAS. 



113 



anew the truth of the resurrection of Christ; then, what 
a comforting prospect it reveals to the conscientious doubters 
amongst us; afterwards, what a new and brilliant light it 
sheds on the superhuman dignity of the person of Christ ; 
and, lastly, how it enlightens us as to the nature and essence 
of saving faith ! It has often happened that this story of 
the experience of Thomas has, whilst under consideration, 
insensibly been reproduced upon those engaged in its medi- 
tation. May God in mercy grant that this may now be the 
case ! 

I. Many may have been rendered uneasy by the surmise, 
that the first witnesses through whose testimony the resur- 
rection of Christ has been made known to us might have 
believed too hastily, might have been led astray by their ear- 
nest desire that their Master should live again, and might 
thus have been led to mistake a mere dream of their fancy 
for a real manifestation. The story we are now engaged 
upon cuts away the foundation for the existence of such a 
thought. We here see a man who certainly could not be 
taxed with being guilty of credulity. Thomas was no 
dreamer, but a man in whom scrutinising thought predomi- 
nated over imagination, in whom reflection outweighed feel- 
ing, and withal of a hot, passionate temperament, somewhat 
inclined to melancholy. He must needs comprehend that 
which he was to receive as truth ; and ere belief could reach 
his heart, it had to break through a whole redoubt of 
arguments and scruples. Thomas was inclined to look at 
everything rather from the dark than the bright side. Kecall 
for a moment the scene in John xi. 8, and following verses, 
where our Lord decidedly opposed the anxious dissuasions of 
His disciples, with reference to His return to Judea, the land 
of His enemies. Who was it that broke forth in those words 
characterised by melancholy resignation, " Let us also go,*, 
that we may die with Him?" It was Thomas, who, in the 

H 



114 



THOMAS. 



event of his Master's going, saw nothing but titter destruc- 
tion in prospect, together with the annihilation of their 
hopes. And who was it subsequently, (John xiv. 4,) when 
the Lord said unto His disciples, " Whither I go, ye know, 
and the way ye know," that said most disconsolately, and 
not without a' touch of ill-humour and of melancholy fro- 
wardness, " Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how 
can we know the way?" The same disciple again. Did it 
hot seem as though he wished to reflect upon his Lord for 
acting thus mysteriously with His disciples? and were not 
his words to this effect — " ■ e cannot understand what you 
really mean, and it is almost impossible for us to remain 
firm to your cause ?" 

Thomas was at Jerusalem on the clay of the resurrection, 
and with the disciples when they received the report of the 
women as to our Lord's vacated tomb and the vision of 
angels, which they insisted upon having seen. But from all 
that was reported to him, he only considered himself justi- 
fied in inferring a knavish trick on the part of the enemy, 
and in ascribing the pretended vision of angels solely to the 
lively imagination of the excited and credulous women. 
Overwhelmed by hopeless sorrow, he had soon, much too 
soon, withdrawn himself from the circle of his fellow- 
apostles, and, with grief bordering on despair, had gone 
into retirement. By so doing, however, he had deprived 
himself of the intense joy of being present at that evening 
assembly, in the midst of which, when the doors were shut, 
our Lord presented Himself, — when, by His exclamation, 
"Peace be with you!" He had, in the most condescending 
and gracious manner, liberated the disciples from all sus- 
pense and doubt. This is what Thomas lost by his over- 
hasty separation ; and every other wilful separation from the 
" holy catholic Church of Christ," and from "the communion 
of saints," will avenge itself similarly. He who determines 



THOMAS. 



115 



on such a step renounces blessings for which he will never 
find compensation. He no longer perceives the " manifold 
wisdom of God in the Churchy He does not rejoice when 
one member of it in this or the other place is signally hon- 
oured. He has no share in the blessed efforts put forth by 
the great brotherhood in the field of missions, in Bible 
societies, and other works of faith and love ; he no longer 
commemorates with the Church its victories and triumphs. 
Innumerable sources of encouragement, adapted to strengthen 
his faith and excite holy joy, are closed to him. His soul is 
exposed to a gradually-withering process, like that of a limb 
to which a ligature has been applied. He becomes one- 
sided, contracted, narrow-minded, and destitute of love. 
Sequestered from the great body of the Church of Jesus, 
there can be no happiness, no prosperity. The members of 
Christ's Church are by its constitution brethren, a closely- 
united household, nay, a living organisation, wherein one 
member is attached to another, each helping the other, 
according to the gift which has been imparted to him, in 
order that "the body may grow up into Him who is its 
Head, making increase of the body unto the edifying of itself 
in love." 

On that hallowed evening, then, Thomas was no* longer in 
the circle of the brethren. The day following, or perhaps, 
even the same night, his brethren sought him in his retire- 
ment, and, with beaming countenances, made known to him 
what great and glorious things they had experienced. Now, 
indeed, he will have believed, and have opened his heart to 
joy ! One would have thought so. But no ; look at him ! 
Instead of exulting in the resurrection, there is something 
in his manner which seems to say, " Are you indeed dream- 
ing? I am not to be'- entertained with a child's tale ! " But 
did Thomas really and seriously think their report to be 
such. Far be it from me to say he did. He rather seemed 



116 



THOMAS. 



to desire purposely to combat his glimmering faith, for fear 
of a repeated, and hence more bitter, disappointment ; and 
when I hear him give expression to the daring words, " Ex- 
cept I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put 
my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand 
into His side, I will not believe," I cannot forbear the sus- 
picion that a secret vexation at the preference which his 
fellow-disciples had experienced, a sort of envious feeling 
towards them, rather than unbelief, may have caused this 
obstinate outbreak. We are, however, pleased to meet this 
disciple in the Easter narrative. He met the report of the 
resurrection with all those doubts which make belief so diffi- 
cult to very many in the present day. Now if this sceptic 
be at length convinced and constrained to believe, will not 
his conversion necessarily be considered as a leading evidence 
of the historical truth of the Easter miracle ? Most certainly. 
But how is it possible that he ever should be convinced ? It 
will be difficult ; but the harder it is, the greater weight will 
his conviction throw into our scale. 

II. Let no one be mistaken in the character of our Thomas. 
He was not a doubter of the common and ordinary stamp, 
from want of love to truth, or from a vain longing to acquire 
the reputation of being " a man of superior intelligence/' or 
from a secret aversion to Christ and His cause. No one in 
the world would have been happier than he had he been able 
to discover a valid reason for opening his heart to the faith 
of his fellow-disciples. However bold and defiant the ex- 
pression, " Except 1 shall see in His hands the print of the 
nails," &o, may sound, it burst forth, bathed in tears, from 
the depths of his inmost soul. The matter in question seemed 
to him of such great and glorious consequences that he would 
not yield himself to the belief of it, until he felt perfectly 
sure that he should not be hurled down from a heaven of 
happiness into an abyss of most dreadful disappointment. 



THOMAS. 



He was a doubter, and we have still many such, but he 
was not one of that very numerous tribe who are insin- 
cere, malevolent, and wilful sceptics, or tainted with most 
contemptible indifference to the whole matter. The honest 
doubter is one who really seeks after truth, and fully acknow- 
ledges that the position of those who yield unconditional 
faith to the gospel of Christ is most enviable, and sympa- 
thising with the man at Jerusalem who exclaimed wishfully, 
"Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God I" 
he frequently says the same. But reason, with its aversion 
to all which lies beyond the limits of natural ideas and con- 
ceptions ; worldly wisdom, with its fallacious arguments and 
bold dictatorial utterances, usurping rule over a province 
which is entirely beyond its scope and above the judgment 
of a worldly man ; the authority of so-called public opinion, 
which in these degenerate days is (in Germany) so thoroughly 
impregnated with antichrist and unbelief ; the illusion of a 
sophistical and juggling criticism, which labour's to cast sus- 
picion upon the Holy Scriptures ; the imposing example of 
men distinguished by their knowledge, culture, and mental 
endowments, who stand out conspicuously in their denial of 
divine revelation ; and, lastly, the fear, partly of the disgrace 
of appearing as though left behind in the progress of modern 
culture, and partly lest they should be found trusting in a 
kingdom that might prove to be but a castle in the air, and 
which would then expose the soul to all the bitterness of an 
awakening from an agreeable self-illusion ; all this is well 
calculated to subvert the faith of many, nay, more, to deter 
them from accepting the most self-evident truths. Hence 
they stand aloof, and, as from a distance, regard the kingdom 
of Christian comforts, hopes, and expectations, as a paradise 
to which they are attracted, but from which they are sepa- 
rated by a wide gulf. Oh that a bridge were but thrown 
over by which they might safely reach the beautiful world 



118 



THOMAS. 



on the other side I They would indeed be thankful for it ! 
But this bridge cannot be built of human materials, though 
they should be the very noblest. Nevertheless there is a 
"master-builder" who, in His own good time, knows well 
how to help such doubters as we have described to get across. 

A week has elapsed since the day of the resurrection. 
We are again mentally transported to Jerusalem, and indeed 
into the same circle of disciples, whom our risen Lord had 
surprised by that evening visit which brought all their grief 
to an end. And, behold, Thomas has again renewed his 
relations with the brethren ! nay, he could no longer exist 
withdrawn from their fellowship. Solitude had become more 
intolerable to him than the closest incarceration ; and the 
atmosphere of the world, alienated from God and inimical 
to Christ, in which he moved, had threatened entirely to 
stifle all his affections. He who has ever lived in the fellow- 
ship of saints, who has ever drunk of the streams of love 
and comfort which flow there, knows there are two worlds, — 
an old one, and a new one created by Christ. And he will 
never again feel at home in the old one. He must live 
"among his oivn people" or he feels sacl and desolate. Ask 
our Thomas whether it be not so with him, and he will de- 
clare that it is, in the strongest terms. We find the disci- 
ples in the same house, and in the same room, where, a week 
before, the revelation of the risen Saviour had been vouch- 
safed them. As they did then, so they do now, — they keep 
the doors shut, — and, precisely as might have been anticipated, 
they have but one topic of conversation — the Eisen One, and 
the resurrection of Him who "was dead, and behold He 
liveth, and beareth the keys of hell and of death." Thomas 
listens with the greatest interest, but in perfect silence, to 
the eager conversation of his brethren. He had found leisure 
in the week's interval to pass his doubts in review once more, 
and there is no question but that he had bewildered himself 



THOMAS. 



119 



in examining the foundation of some of them. Hence belief 
was to him as yet impossible. What would he not give to 
be enabled to believe ! Suddenly, throughout the assembly, 
the greeting, so well known to most of them, " Peace be with 
you!" resounds again; and when they, joyously surprised, 
look up, there He stands again, bodily before them. He, 
the highly-exalted One, the desired One, again sheds, from 
His countenance upon those favoured ones, rays of com- 
placency and love. And to whom does He draw near after 
that He had so graciously greeted the assembly ? To whom 
does He address Himself so kindly, so affably ? May we be- 
lieve our eyes? The unbelieving, perverse disciple is this 
time the object of His prevenient and most condescending 
marks of attention. Petrified with astonishment, reverence, 
and shame, Thomas sees Him approach ! The erring disci- 
ple, who had in so daring a manner expressed his unbelief, 
may well cast down his eyes, trembling and blushing. Never- 
theless he has nothing to fear ! The dreadful day is not yet 
come when thousands, like him, will stand before the Lord, 
trembling with far greater reason than he, because in Him, 
of whom they once rebelliously said, " W 8 will not have this 
man to reign over us," they now, to their utter consternation, 
and for the first time, recognise the King of kings, the Lord 
of lords, and the Judge both of the living and the dead. To 
unbelieving Thomas our Lord still came as the Prince of 
Peace. Thomas, whose heart was still attached to Him, had 
remained, even whilst astray, His beloved disciple. Were 
he sick, then certainly it was his Master's office to be his 
physician. Though Thomas did not believe, the heavenly 
spark of love still faintly glimmered within him, and there- 
fore the oil of his faith could not be entirely exhausted. Our 
Saviour addresses him, and literally repeats Thomas's own 
words, "Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and 
reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side : and be 



120 



THOMAS. 



not faithless, but believing."' What must have been the 
disciple's experience at this moment ? He might fain have 
hid his face — nay, have crept into the very bosom of the 
earth. But how was this salutary shame alleviated and 
sweetened by his Lord's infinite kindness and compassion ! 
Thomas has not touched the wounds of his Lord, — those 
signs of His victory over death, the grave, and hell, — but he 
has read in them his everlasting redemption, and from this 
hour he no longer doubts that his Master is really alive. 
And it was also his Lord's desire that His apostle should be 
thoroughly convinced of the historical truth of the great fact, 
to which he was to testify — it being the basis of all Chris- 
tianity. And this His aim was now most fully attained. 

Let us adore the condescending love with which the 
Easter Prince met His unbelieving disciple, and let us 
realise in it comfort in reference to those among us, who, 
driven about by many a storm of doubt, cannot yet reach 
the port of the kingdom of God. If they desire in good ear- 
nest to reach that haven, and if with their doubts there be 
associated a secret feeling of the enviable blissful state of 
those who already have attained to faith, and if withal 
there be united a well sustained wrestling for truth, and 
fervent prayer for illumination, they may rest assured that 
they are not only taken into the affections of the " Good 
Shepherd," but likewise into His charge and guidance. For 
these also the time is at hand when their experience will be 
coincident with that of their brother Thomas ; the Lord will, 
in some mode or other, come to their help, or, by some un- 
mistakable manifestation of His wondrous and peace-inspir- 
ing nearness, will remove the veil from before their eyes. It 
is precisely on the ground of such happy experiences with 
which He surprises them, and which put an end to all 
uncertainty, that He gives the solemn injunction, " Be not 
faithless, but believing." 



THOMAS. 



121 



III. Overcome with awe, amazement, and veneration, 
Thomas stands for some moments motionless before his Lord. 
Bnt then, raised far above himself in a moment of supernatural 
enlightenment, with his knees bending to the dust, his heart 
pours forth a confession, higher, richer, and more compre- 
hensive than any that had ever, till then, been uttered by 
mortal Hps. All the rays of celestial grandeur which Thomas 
had ever seen stream from the person of his Master, as well 
as all the intimations of His superhuman dignity which, 
challenging admiration, had ever forced themselves upon 
him whilst listening to His sayings, or witnessing His won- 
drous acts, now met and combined as in a focus. " My Lord 
and my God ! " he exclaims — an utterance of the clearest, 
deepest, and liveliest convictions. Indeed, it would be erro- 
neous to suppose that Thomas's conceptions of the divinity of 
Christ were already so clear and ample that he could at once 
have moulded them into an accurate dogmatical form. His 
utterance was the expression of a deep, living perception and 
feeling, which, although he was hardly conscious of it him- 
self, involved nothing less than the dogma of the real unity 
of the only-begotten Son with His Divine Father. The words 
of Thomas, moreover, do not admit of doubt ; they leave no 
room for misconstruction. They testify clearly and decidedly 
to the divinity of Christ, and form one of the mighty rocks 
on which those who will not believe Christ to have been 
more than man, and who even pretend that the Bible is on 
their side in this matter, must see their opinion totally 
wrecked. Let the adversaries of our faith call in to their 
aid all the acuteness and wit which they possess, and ex- 
haust all their arsenals of learning and criticism, the expres- 
sion, " My God," stands there now as it has done from the 
beginning, and certainly allows of no other explanation than 
that which the letter demands. Many, in despair, have be- 
come almost desperate about this, and have not been ashamed 



122 



THOMAS. 



to endeavour to extricate themselves from their difficulties 
by the absurd pretence that Thomas did not call Jesus his 
Lord and. his God, but that, adopting the very bad practice 
of modern days, he, in this expression, only gave vent to his 
surprise at the reappearance of his Master, — as if such an 
abuse of the Divine name had been as general then in Juclea 
as it is now in Europe, and as if an Israelite would not have 
recoiled with horror from so frivolous an abuse of the sacred 
name — "My Lord and my God" — as from a blasphemy 
which deserved stoning ! But thus does God abandon those 
who wilfully oppose His Word, and faith in it, to the- mad- 
dest, wildest conceits. Even at the present time they are 
visited with this preliminary judgment, that they render 
themselves ridiculous in the eyes of all reasonable men ; 
nay, more, absurd in those of children. Enough, Thomas 
had, in an unequivocal and becoming manner, done hom- 
age to the Lord Jesus as his Divine Lord, and as the 
heavenly King, whom all the prophets had most explicitly 
pointed out as the future Messiah. In his confession, Tho- 
mas most justly places the risen Saviour upon the throne of 
the eternal Majesty, and assigns to His pierced hands the 
reins of universal government as belonging to Him the Lord 
of all. And what is our Lord's bearing when the disciple 
falls at His feet with this mighty testimony ? Does He de- 
cline the lofty title reverentially addressed to Him by the 
disciple as one too high, and not justly employed with refe- 
rence to Him ? Does He recoil from the disciple who thus 
acknowledges Him, as did Paul and Barnabas afterwards 
from the Lystrians, with the words, " Thomas ! thou blas- 
phemest ! thy Lord and thy God is in heaven, and I, like 
thyself, am but His servant?" By no means. The Lord 
accepts the testimony in its full scope and weight, and does 
so with exalted calmness ; nay, He even corroborates it by 



THOMAS. 



123 



saying, " Now, Thomas, believest thou ? " Be, then, con- 
vinced that it was with good reason that we said our story 
would throw a new, refulgent light upon the person of the 
Lord Jesus, and His more than earthly dignity. It most 
certainly appears from it that the titles Lord and God are 
applicable to Him in their full and unimpaired import ; for 
if it were not so, Thomas must have been mad to have bowed 
the knee whilst saying it ; and Jesus himself would have 
been guilty of blasphemy, a crime punishable with death, in 
receiving such homage. This is the alternative ; and there 
remains nothing open to us more rational than to bow the 
knee to Him also, and to unite in the reverential exclama- 
tion, "My Lord and my God!" 

IV. Our Lord, in reply to Thomas's confession, says, " Be- 
cause thou hast seen me, thou hast believed; blessed are 
they which have not seen, and yet have believed /" A reply 
full of meaning, but which, nevertheless, involves something 
that at the first glance might astonish us. Was Thomas, 
then, who only believed because he had seen, not blessed? 
Truly, indeed, we see him in an ecstasy of joy and delight at 
the sight of his risen Master. But the word "blessed" 
signifies far more than such an exhibition of rapturous joy. 
It indicates perfect content in the absence of all desire — 
sabbatic peace ; now the state of mind in which our disciple 
found himself differed from this, inasmuch as Thomas, 
from want of a thorough perception of his own need of 
salvation, was unable to perceive the real aim of Christ's 
incarnation, and could not appreciate what he really possessed 
in a living Saviour. If his consciousness of his condemna- 
tion before God had been more thorough and comprehensive 
than it now was, and if he had had a deeper insight into the 
nature of sin, as well as into the holiness of God, and of His 
inviolable and irrevocable law, he would never have been 



124 



THOMAS. 



scandalised by the sufferings and death of his Master, but 
would, on the contrary, have recognised and seen it to be an 
absolute necessity for the expiation of the sin of the world, 
and for the mediatorial redemption of the common guilt of 
the human race. The sacrifice of the Mediator under the 
curse of the law would long since have appeared to him to 
be an indispensable requisite of the Divine work of redemp- 
tion, and even before the notification of the resurrection had 
reached him, he would have been thoroughly confident that 
the Lord had risen ; nay, that He must live again, because 
it was perfectly inconceivable that God should allow the 
Shepherd of the sheep to be imprisoned in the tomb, after 
He had blamelessly fulfilled His saving mediatorial work on 
the cross. If the risen Saviour had then met him, he would 
have greeted Him with inexpressible joy, but without being 
surprised at His reappearance, or, at least, without conster- 
nation. The disciple would have been sure the Redeemer 
had risen even before He presented Himself in person to 
him ; and if Thomas had read in the healed wounds of the 
Messiah, as out of divinely-attested documents, the intelli- 
gence of the finished work of redemption, accomplished for 
his sake, he would only have rejoiced to find himself thereby 
strengthened in consolations which he had before participated 
in and enjoyed. Thus, you see, had Thomas, under the 
circumstances suggested, believed before he saw, when faith 
was turned to sight, he would have been truly blessed, 
whereas we now see him only intoxicated with joy, and 
almost lost to self-possession through ecstatic emotion. 

Our Lord's declaration, " Blessed are they that have not 
seen, and yet have believed," admits of no application to us, 
save as it confirms and blesses the conditions of belief which 
are now usual and normal, and leaves us without a motive 
for envying those who once saw our Lord personally and 



THOMAS. 



125 



bodily living upon earth. The faith of Christians of the 
present day is not based upon their senses. It rests on the 
threefold witness of the Word, of the Holy Ghost, and of 
inward spiritual experience ; and its operation is thereby 
rendered only so much the more certain and efficient. En- 
lightened by the Holy Ghost, we feel ourselves to be poor 
sinners, needing grace, mediation, and redemption. But this 
need is met by the gospel message in the Saviour's invita- 
tion — " Gome unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy 
laden, and I will give you rest." To see Him in spirit, to 
hear His voice, to perceive the aim of His mission, and to 
feel in the inmost soul, "Thou art my Saviour, or there is 
none," are one and the same thing. We feel ourselves cast 
on Him, and we recline confidently on His heart ; and as 
we recognise the sun by the bright, warms rays which issue 
from it, to illumine, fructify, and quicken, so also do we 
recognise Him as the Son of God and our Mediator, by the 
heavenly peace with which He refreshes our fainting souls, 
the sanctifying grace and power which He infuses into us, 
and by the courage for life and death with which He arms 
us. Thus do we believe without seeing, and that which we 
are permitted to behold, either in remarkable answers to 
prayer, or in wondrous providential aid, or even in trances 
and visions, we gratefully welcome as a refreshing, vivifying, 
and strengthening addition to our faith. But our faith is 
not founded upon it; it subsists without it, resting on stronger 
and firmer pillars. 

May the Lord assist us, where the work has not already 
been done, to that faith which is a fruit of the right percep- 
tion of that which ought to be believed ! John says, " It is 
the Spirit that beareth ivitness, because the Spirit is truth/' 
May the deep meaning of these words of the apostle be dis- 
closed to us all by persnnnl experience ! The key to all the 



126 



treasures of grace is prayer. Let us, therefore, heartily join 
in the longing desire which rings in the beautiful words of 
the old hymn: — 

" Yet grant the eye of faith, Lord ! 
To pierce within the Holy Place, 
For I am saved and Thou adored, 
If I am quicken'd by Thy grace. 
Behold, King, before Thy throne 
My soul in lowly love doth bend, 
Oh, shew Thyself her gracious Friend, 
And say, ( I choose thee for mine own.' " 

W. C. Dessler 1692.— Lyra Germanica. 



THE APPEAKANCE AT THE LAKE. 



127 



X. 

THE APPEAEANCE AT THE LAKE. 

"Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the 
world" Thus did the Lord address His disciples in John 
xv. 19 ; and in so doing all who belong to Him. They are 
in the world, but no longer of the world, since they have ex- 
perienced a thorough spiritual transformation. They form 
a new race, though commingled with the old one. Not as 
though they had been withdrawn from the condition and re- 
lations of secular life. In their domestic, professional, and 
social engagements you will hardly be able to distinguish 
them from the better part of the children of the world ; 
nevertheless they walk, as these dimly perceive, as strangers 
among them. In their opinions, sentiments, and bias of such, 
they differ essentially from them. Baptised and imbued with 
another spirit, they love and suffer, reason and determine, 
work and jest, mourn and rejoice, in a totally different man- 
ner. Where they act the same as their brethren in the flesh, 
still what they do is totally different in character. They 
travel a higher road, they breathe a different atmosphere. 
An opportunity will now be given us to take a broader view 
of that new divinely-transformed life ; and God grant that 
we may be attracted by it, and personally enjoy it ! 

John xxi. 1-14. 

" After these things J esus shewed himself again to the disciples at the 
sea of Tiberias ; and on this wise shewed he himself. There were together 



12S 



THE APPEABAXCE AT THE LAKE. 



Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in 
Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two other of his disciples. Simon 
Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go 
with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately ; and 
that night they caught ' nothing. But when the morning was now come, 
Jesus stood on the shore ; but the disciples knew not that it was Jesus. 
Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat ? They answered 
him, No. And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the 
ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore ; and now they were not able 
to draw it for the multitude of fishes. Therefore that disciple whom Jesus 
loved saith unto Peter, It is the Lord. Now, when Simon Peter heard that 
it was the Lord, he girt his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and 
did cast himself (Into the sea. And the other disciples came in a little ship, 
(for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) drag- 
ging the net with fishes. As soon then as they were come to land, they 
saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid thereon, and bread. Jesus saith unto 
them, Bring of the fish which ye have now caught. Simon Peter went up, 
and drew the net to land full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three : 
and for all there were so many, yet was not the net broken. Jesus saith 
unto them, Come and dine. And none of the disciples durst ask him, 
Who art thou ? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus then cometh, and 
taketh bread, and giveth them, and fish likewise. This is now the third 
time that Jesus shewed himself to his disciples after that he was risen from 
the dead." 

What can be more tender, significant, and touching than 
this Gospel? The reflection of another world is spread over 
it. It is no fiction — it is historical — and bears in all its fea- 
tures the impress of truth, stamped with a distinctness tran- 
scending that of almost every other history. But, notwith- 
standing this, the historical incidents present at the same 
I time to the spiritually-enlightened eye an allegory, rich in 
) thought, in which the object symbolised is nothing less than 
the whole Christian life, in all its most essential outlines and 
relations. And it is from this point of view that we purpose 
treating the engaging story. The life of believers is revealed 
to us in it — 1st, as one issuing in eternal results ; 2clly, as 
one of a holy brotherhood ; 3dly, as a life of cheerful con- 
tentment with our earthly lot ; 4thly, no less than one of 



THE APPEARANCE AT THE LAKE. 



129 



uninterrupted heart-elevating expectancy ; 5thly, as a life in 
which faith is alternately tried and victorious ; and, 6thly, as 
a life of blessed anticipations, with reference to both this 
world and the next. Let us contemplate this life of faith in 
these aspects, and may God grant that the longer we live 
the more we may realise it ! 

I. The scene is in Galilee, where our Lord desired His 
disciples to meet Him, and probably in the fishing village of 
Bethsaida. What great things can we have to seek here? 
More indeed, beloved, than the unimposing place would lead 
us to expect. We behold a spiritual Pleiades, a constella- 
tion which will one day spread its enlightening and vivify- 
ing splendour over the whole world. In Simon Peter and 
his six companions we see the members who constitute 
this constellation. Listen to the topics upon which this 
small circle of friends are engaged in such animated conver- 
sation. It is true they incidentally speak about their nets, 
the fish which they have caught, about the market, and the 
earning of their daily bread ; but besides these, and with far 
deeper interest, they talk of something else. What have 
these intimate friends of Jesus of Nazareth, who died, slew 
death, and brought life and immortality to light, not gone 
through ! What incomparable treasures of the soul, com- 
prised in elevating recollections of the past, in a happy 
consciousness of their present filial relation to God, and in 
thrilling expectations for the future, do they cherish ! If 
ever man's life may be said to have been full of instruction, 
then — who will dispute it? — theirs was. In how infinitely 
higher a degree was theirs such, than the life of thousands 
amongst us, judging from the tone of conversation pervading 
our social meetings. But all that, in the possession of which 
these friends at Bethsaida rejoiced, is essentially the in- 
heritance of the whole Church, which has attached itself, 
and will continue to attach itself, to these disciples, as to a 

I 



130 THE APPEARANCE AT THE LAKE. 

^ spiritual centre of crystallisation. I do not merely mean the 
Church of the orthodox, but also of all the hearty believers 
baptized into, and imbued with, the spirit of Christ; in 
whose diaries are to be found the records of something be- 
• yond their mere secular experience and engagements in 
every-day life ; where, in a parallel column to the history of 
their earthly bodily life, there is another of higher im- 
portance — the history of their souls. They have to tell one 
another of matters relating to an invisible world in which 
they live, — of views of eternity which delight their souls, — 
of divine leadings and revelations in answers to prayer, and 
in wondrous providential aids vouchsafed them, — of the 
possession of more than earthly treasures, as, for instance, 
the impression of divine grace within them, — a joyful, child- 
like confidence in the Almighty, of a powerfully germinating 
* seed of future perfect sanctity implanted in the very centre 
of their being, — and of many other things incomparably de- 
lightful ! Enough ; the life of faith alone has a real im- 
perishable purpose, worthy to be striven for by man, created 
as he is for immortality. Where faith is wanting, the most 
splendid earthly lot is poor and empty, and the most valuable 
cargo with which our bark of life can be freighted is but 
empty chaff to be driven before the wind. 

II. The men whom we find at Bethsaida, besides Simon 
Peter, are Thomas, Nathanael, John, James, and two whose 
nanies are not recorded. In them is represented — albeit in 
I the germ — the communion of saints, which essentially differs 
from what the world calls friendship and fraternity ; and of 
its fervour and depth no one has any idea who has not him- 
self been admitted to it. When the whole human race shall 
belong to this communion, the golden age will have come. 
There is much talk in our days about a great "bond of 
brotherhood," in which the whole world should combine, 
though there never before was so much hatred, discord, and 



THE APPEAEANCE AT THE LAKE. 



131 



party-spirit to be met with on earth as there is just at this 
time. Men dream of bringing about this universal frater- 
nisation without Christ and His gospel ; and it never occurs 
to them that such a hope is an attempt to " gather grapes 
of thorns and figs of thistles," (Matt. vii. 1 6.) The natural 
man deceives himself, when he imagines that he is able to 
seek something other than himself, and what belongs to self. 
His strongest impulse to undertake and to carry out any 
enterprise is, and remains, " egoism," which is no more to be 
banished by good resolutions than by grand and high-sound- — . 
ing words. Tell us, you who are still growing on the 
natural trunk, whether you have any idea of a community in 
which all struggle is at an end, except the contest who shall 
deny himself most for our Saviour's sake, or who shall outvie | 
the other in unreserved submission to Him, — of a community 
in which all its members are divested of envy, save envy that 
a better opportunity had been given to others than to us to 
practise their active self-denial, — of a community in which 
no desire more rules the soul than this one, that Christ I 
should increase and we decrease ; and where the brethren 
are no longer known according to the flesh, but are lovingly 
embraced as participators in a common salvation, as those 
who with us rest in the bosom of the same love, and are 
journeying hand-in-hand with us towards the same common 
home, the same Father's house, — a community from which 
lying and deceit, the bane of worldly friendships, are for 
ever banished, — a fraternity in which all that a man has is 
looked upon as a divine loan, interest on which is payable in 
services of love. Here, indeed, what of earthly good has 
fallen to the lot of any man is accepted gratefully ; but in 
comparison with the " treasure in heaven," it is regarded 
only as a fund to defray expenses in our short journey ! 
through the vale of tears. Be assured that this is no fond 
imagination, no unattainable ideal, glimmering from afar ; 



132 



THE APPEARANCE AT THE LAKE. 



but an organisation existing within the range of fact and 
reality, which throughout all ages is recognised by the 
initiated as the heavenly and imperishable kernel which is 
preserved within the shell of the visible Church, and forms 
•—the germ of that glorified race of men, in whom hereafter 
the saying will be fulfilled in its highest and most glorious 
sense : "Man is become as one of us;" and the saying of 
John, " As He is, so are we in this world." The new crea- 
ture, created after God " in righteousness and true holiness/' 
has not now to be discovered for the first time, but has 
already long existed, though at present only in a state of 
development, and is found in all those who are truly "in 
Christ Jesus." 

III. The evening is closing. Then Peter says to his com- 
panions, " I go a-fishing" " We also go with you" was the 
reply ; and no sooner said than done. Until they receive 
further instructions, they resume their former simple occu- 
pation. And why should they not willingly take to their 
nets again, if such be their Lord's will ? The Christian life 
of faith is here represented to us as one of cheerful content- 
ment with our earthly lot and calling. Whatever be the 
honest business and work in which we are engaged, we pro- 
secute it with cheerful spirit and energy. Tor, in the first 
place, we shall, whilst performing it, regard it as but for a 
\ season, from the consciousness of our far higher destiny. 
But then it will be performed in the name of the Lord 
Jesus, who assigns to every man his post, and measures out 
to each his field of labour, who can be served just as well by 
the day-labourer as by the discharge of any other duty, and 
whose name can be praised and glorified in the most circum- 
scribed sphere. Furthermore, duty, where incumbent, is to 
be performed without desiring fame or acknowledgment ; 
for how does all honour with which the world could reward 
us facie before that which we already possess, " whose names 



THE APPEARANCE AT THE LAKE. 



133 



are written in heaven !" And lastly, we work at it without 
grief or anxiety, as if the apostle's encouraging declaration 
were still heard by us, "He that spared not his own Son, 
but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with 
him also freely give us all things V Listen to what trans- 
pires in the houses and cottages around you. Oh what ill- 
humour, discontent, sighing, murmuring and complaining is 
there everywhere ! What is the cause of all this ? Simply 
because people have missed the gospel source of joy and 
peace. It is not the outward situation in which any one is 
placed, no, unbelief is the first and most efficient cause of all 
the misery in the world, and the real, inward, cancerous 
affection which preys upon the whole human race. 

IV. It is a question whether all the discijjles at Bethsaida 
were fishermen. But they all go willingly on the lake. 
What wonder ? Not only does their Master's promise, 
"After that I am risen, 1 will go before you into Galilee" 
still ring in their ears, but they are attracted more powerfully 
by the remembrance of all the glorious incidents which they 
had previously been permitted to witness on the lake to which 
they are now about to go. The confession may not mutually 
be made aloud, but, individually, they are preoccupied with 
the thought that possibly something they have longed for 
may now take place. Thrilling anticipations course through 
their hearts, and all true Christians of the present day 
experience similar emotions. The life of faith is one of 
uninterrupted heart-elevating expectancy. Of what ? Do 
they also expect their Lord to present Himself to them 
bodily? Far from it. But, relying on His word, that He 
will be with His own even to the end of the world, and on 
many other definite promises and assurances, they are ever 
more or less anxious to observe how He will help and deliver 
them, — here through His word, or in some other way, giving 
them counsel ; in other cases, undoing the tangled knots in 



134 



THE APPEARANCE AT THE LAKE. 



life, — in noting how He will promote the work undertaken 
for His glory, and crown it with success and blessing ; how 
He will overcome this and that hindrance to the prosperity 
of His kingdom ; or in what other manner He will reveal 
His gracious presence, and prove His mercy and His love. 
How pleasant it is to anticipate the visit of a valued human 
friend ! What must they have felt when expecting Him who 
reigns supreme in heaven as being about in some way or 
iother to display His favour and power to them ! What could 
'be more elevating and delightful ! It is to occupy a fixed 
position in the vestibule of the heavenly throne-room, and to 
stand constantly waiting expectant before Immanuel's door. 
And what does king David say from his own experience? 
" They that wait on the Lord shall not be put to shame ;" 
and Solomon, prompted by the Holy Spirit, adds, " The hope 
of the righteous shall be gladness." 

Yes, it is so. But it does not always happen at the very 
time that we could have wished it. Our fishermen cruised 
about the lake the whole night ; but they take nothing in 
their nets, nor is any appearance vouchsafed them, as they had 
secretly hoped. Bat the Christian has to maintain his self- 
composure under heavier trials than these. It may some- 
times appear to him, as though he were wholly disregarded 
by the Lord, and as though his deeds, prayers, and sufferings, 
were so likewise. Such experiences are indeed bitter, but 
they are salutary. Ask the believers of every age when they 
have become most thoroughly conscious of their unworthiness 
in the sight of God, and when they have most fervently and 
ardently repeated the words of the Canaanitish woman, 
" Truth, Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from 
their master's table ;" ask them, when they have been wont, 
in the exercise of bare faith alone, to cling to the sure word 
of prophecy, and when their heart vented itself in the words 
of David, " Unless thy laiv had been my delight, I should 



THE APPEAEANCE AT THE LAKE. 



135 



then have 'perished in my affliction" (Ps. cxix. 92 ;) ask when 
they first experienced in themselves not only the pain, but 
likewise the blessing, and healing powers of -wrestling with 
God as did Jacob ; when they were first able to resign 
themselves in perfect submission to the will of God with an 
unconditional surrender ; ask all this, and they will all, with 
one voice, answer, "Not when the Lord allowed everything 
to fall out as we wished, but then, when He hid His face 
from us ; when we, with other tears than those which the 
poet of this world sheds, ' sat weeping on our bed through- 
out- the wearisome nights ;' nay, when we seemed as the 
forsaken and rejected, 'those whom the Most High had wholly | 
deserted/ " But they will also add, with countenances beam- 
ing with delight, " The time of divine consolation has always 
returned." ^The life of believers is one in which faith is ") 
alternately tried and victorious. 

V, Early clay is dawning over the lake of Gennesareth. 
There emerges from the morning mist the form of a man on 
the distant shore. Our fishermen take him to be a fish-dealer, 
one of those who daily come out at dawn from the town to 
meet the boats, and make their purchases. But we know the 
mysterious stranger better. He is the omnipresent and 
eternal Guardian of Israel. Everywhere and ever at hand, 
with His beloved ones whilst traversing the sea of life. 
"Children" cries the unknown one familiarly to the fishermen, 
<: have ye any meat ? " He asks as to their success in fishing. * 
The answer is abrupt and quite despondent, " No." A ques- 
tion addressed to us by God himself lies involved in every 
trouble that befalls us, and if we immediately answer as in 
the sight of God, " No, we have nothing," we have already 
advanced one step towards our peace. The stranger calls to 
them, " Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye 
shall find." With what assurance does He desire them to do 
so. Might not the fishermen by this have recognised the 



136 



THE APPEARANCE AT THE LAKE. 



speaker % They indeed throw their net, and, as it would seem, 
heedlessly, as though thinking, if they gained nothing, yet 
they would lose nothing. But who shall describe their aston- 
ishment, when, upon endeavouring to pull it up again, they 
find their utmost efforts unequal to raise it, " for the multi- 
tude of fishes." The circumstance is immediately suggestive 
of an intimation to the mind of one of them. And to whom 
does it occur ? Why, to him who understood our Lord's 
manner best, and who was adorned with the most beautiful 
title that mortal ever bore ; namely, that of the disciple whom 
Jesus loved, " and ivho leant on Jesus' breast" John, with 
sparkling eyes, whisjDered to his friends, "It is the Lord!" 
Upon this, another, whose ardent temperament will not per- 
mit him to wait till the boat was brought to shore, girding 
his fisher's coat quickly about him, boldly leapt overboard. 
With energetic strokes he divides the waves and swims before 
the vessel towards the point where stood the wondrous Per- 
sonage. Who this hastily-resolved person was, I scarce need 
say, for who could it be but Simon Peter ? What prompted 
him to do so? It was undoubtedly his ardent love to his 
Lord and Master. Ay, but he had moreover another especial 
reason. He was already pardoned, but whether he had re- 
gained the full confidence of his Lord and Master was to him 
a matter of doubt, so long as our Lord had not reinstated 
him in his forfeited apostleship. He had been forgiven on 
the early morning of the resurrection-day. But was the sin 
which he had committed really forgotten ? Until Peter be 
assured of this, he has no peace, he cannot look up joyously. 
He will be both the first and the last to lie at the feet of the 
risen Saviour, until the blissful declaration is made to him, 
" Yes, thy sin is for ever blotted out ! " " It is the Lord." 
Oh ! do not doubt it, this cry resounds over and over again 
in the life of believers ; and what a day of rejoicing beams 
upon us when, after protracted and deep gloom, the long- 



THE APPEARANCE AT THE LAKE. 



137 



desired Prince of Peace again, and suddenly, appears, with 
help, comfort, and kindness ! And He always does return. 
" Light," sings David, " is sown for the righteous, and glad- 
ness for the upright in heart." 

VI. The disciples in the ship, dragging the full, heavy net 
after^ thern, arrive with beating hearts at the landing-place. 
Yes, John was right ; it is the Master. His present appear- 
ance certainly differs from what it was when living amongst 
them ; He wore the form of a servant. But they already 
bela old Him in His glorified body, and to no one of them 
does it occur to ask who He is, and to grieve Him again by 
unbelief. And what do you see near Him ? A glowing fire 
of coals, and on it, preparing for their early repast, fish and 
bread. This is wonderful ! But did He ever appear, during 
these forty days, save in some wondrous fashion ? Of all \ 
marvels, He is personally the most marvellous. We are here 
again convinced that He belongs no longer to the earth, but 
to another sphere of life, to another order of things. After 
His resurrection, therefore, it is not recorded of Him, as be- 
fore, "He came;" but, "He shewed himself" (John xxi. 1;) 
that is, coming forth from the invisible world. He entered 
the visible one, from which He retired again as soon as He 
had accomplished His purpose. "Bring of the fish which ye 
have noiu caught" says He. Again it is Peter, who is first 
at the vessel, pulling the net to land, and who fetches some of 
the great haul of fish. And John, an eye-witness, observes, 
" The fishes which they had caught were an hundred and 
fifty and three" great ones ; " and for all there were so many, 
yet was not the net broken." " Come," continues our Lord, 
kindly inviting the disciples, " Come and eat." They circle 
round Him. He then takes the bread Himself, and hands 
it to them to eat, and fish likewise. On every occasion upon 
which our Lord presented Himself to the disciples subse- 
quent to His resurrection, it appears to have been His design 



138 



THE APPEAEANCE AT THE LAKE. 



first to convince them ih&t-ffe was again there before them 
Himself, personally and bodily, and then to free them 
from the delusion that He would continue the same social 
relations with them which He previously had sustained. In 
the scene now brought under view, the former aim prepon- 
derates. It is, moreover, pregnant with real and holy sym- 
bols. It contains promises, concerning the apostolate, that 
they should never see the spiritual net which they were about 
to cast torn ; furthermore, assurances of the never-failing 
providence of God in those seasons when His servants go 
forth armed to the fight ; and, above all, a significant sym- 
bolical representation of the ultimate result of the whole 
voyage of life, when He, in like manner inviting His chil- 
dren to a far more bounteous feast, after all the gloom and 
weariness of their earthly existence, will welcome them to 
the other shore, and give them the crown of life. Truly the 
life of believers is one of most blissful prospect for the world 
that now is, and of perfect happiness for that which is to 
come. 

I take it for granted you are convinced that there is, even 
I on earth, another life which differs in all respects from our 
every-day existence, passed in earthly trouble, earthly joys, 
and earthly cares — a life under the opened heaven already 
illumined by the sjDlendour of eternity — a life which even 
from its outset has a glory more than earthly. The life of 
men sjnritually crucified, and now risen with Christ, in 
whose lips the following passage is a realised truth — " For 
our conversation is in heaven, from ivhence also we look 
for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ," — the life of all 
those to whom the words of the apostle are applicable, 
" Your life is hid with Christ in God; when Christ, who 
is your life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with 
him in glory." May no one of us be condemned eternally 



THE APPEARANCE AT THE LAKE. 



139 



to view this life only wistfully and from a distance, as one 
strange to us. On the contrary, may it, by God's grace, 
become our own ! 

" Lo !" Thy presence filleth now 
All Thy Church in eve^ place ! 
To my heart, oh enter Thou; 
See, it thirsteth for Thy grace ! 
Come, thou King of glory, come, 
Deign to make my heart Thy home! 
There abide and rule alone, 
As upon Thy heavenly throne ! " 



140, 



PETER'S LOVE TO CHE1ST TESTED. 



XL 

PETER'S LOVE TO CHRIST TESTED. 

The apostle in 1 Cor. xiii. 13, having first placed faith and 
hope side by side with love, says, " But the greatest of these 
is love" (charity.) It may be asked, Why the greatest? 
First, because, unlike faith, which will be converted into 
sight, and, unlike hope, which will be converted into fruition, 
both thus undergoing change, love, being in its nature divine, 
will pass over unaltered into the world of glory, in order 
that, freed from all earthly shackles and dross, it may there 
become perfect ; secondly, because love, as the noble blossom 
of faith and hope, may be said to comprise them both — a 
statement which cannot be made with equal truth of either 
faith or hope with reference to love ; and, lastly, because love 
is the fulfilling of the law, since he who loves God no longer 
considers His divine precepts as literal commands external 
to himself, but has them in himself as constituting the prin- 
ciple of his inmost life. But however true all this may be, 
we should better hit the meaning of the apostle if we accept 
that he calls love "the greatest," because we, through love 
divesting ourselves of self, become wholly God's, are brought 
into union with Him who is love, and are assimilated to 
Him ; and whilst in believing and hoping we are rather 
passive, and resign ourselves to be influenced by Him, by 
love we are raised to fellowship with His divine working, or, 
as the apostle says in another place, " We then are made 



PETER S LOVE TO CHRIST TESTED. 



141, 



workers with Him." What a precious treasure then is the 
love which the apostle here has in view, and which forms 
the foundation of the new life of those who are born of 
God ! We shall now have a further opportunity afforded us 
to speak and to hear more of this love. Ought we not all 
most heartily to rejoice in it ? 

John xxi. 15-17. 

" So when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of 
Jonas, iovest thou me more than these ? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord ; 
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. He 
saith to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me ? 
He saith unto him, Yea, Lord ; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith 
unto him, Feed my sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son 
of Jonas, lovest thou me? Peter was grieved because he said unto him 
the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto him, Lord, thou 
knowest all things ; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, 
Feed my sheep." 

A touching narrative, my brethren ; nay, more than 
touching. How often have our hearts been stirred within 
us when meditating upon it ; but does it not seem ever new, 
like the opening spring, the starry vault of heaven at even- 
tide, or sunrise amid the rosy hues of the dawn? The 
oftener we examine it, the more its beauty grows upon us ; 
and the more we attempt to fathom its treasures of thought, 
the richer do they appear. Truly this Gospel speaks to us 
in exceedingly tender tones, and needs a delicate and prac- 
tised mind fully to apprehend it. In spiritual life, there are 
many grades of susceptibility, and many stages of culture. 
Not all who have experienced the loving-kindness of God 
see with equal clearness, and enter with equal depth and 
fervour, into spiritual matters. It occurs but to few to lean 
with John on Jesus' breast, and to watch the lightest pulsa- 
tions of His divine and tender heart. May such delicacy of 
perception not be wanting to us whilst we are engaged in 
meditating upon this narrative. Yet this Gospel containa 



142 . 



petee's love to cheist tested. 



enough of that which can be easily conceived and compre- 
hended by all, to relieve ns from solicitude, lest any should 
wholly fail to profit by the study of it. To what shall we 
then specially direct our attention ? I think that the ques- 
tion of the risen Saviour respecting love to Him ought to be 
the single subject of our present contemplation. Let us 
observe then, first, that love to Christ furnishes us with the 
measure of all true human worth ; then how does this ques- 
tion point out to us the roots and foundation of all new 
divine life ; and lastly, how it shews and reveals to us the 
way to the most honourable and blessed position. May the 
Lord in mercy acknowledge our word, and may the Holy 
Spirit lead us into all truth ! 

I. Let us return to the shores of the Sea of Galilee. A 
beautiful spring morning illumines the scene before us, and 
is quite in harmony with it. Lo ! yonder stands the risen 
Saviour ! How sublime and gracious is His bearing ! The 
seven disciples, happy beyond measure at the gracious con- 
descension He has vouchsafed towards them, surround Him, 
their host, at this extraordinary entertainment. Their coun- 
tenances beam with joy. One alone stands with downcast 
looks, depressed. His clothes, still dripping, render it easy 
for us to recognise him. He it is who, in order to be first 
at his Lord's feet, by swimming outstripped the slow progress 
of the ship. What is it then that still lies so heavily upon 
his heart ? Was it the lamentable transaction in the court- 
yard of the high priest's palace? Doubtless the crushing 
remembrance of that will never be entirely extinguished in 
his soul. But he likewise will never forget that glorious 
incident, wholly unparalleled in its nature, on Easter-morn, 
when suddenly the Master, whom he had so disgracefully 
denied, stood before him, glorified as the conqueror of hell, 
death, and the grave, and personally assured his contrite 
heart of full forgiveness. Peter's absolution, pronounced by 



PETER'S LOVE TO CHEIST TESTED. 143 

Him whose pardon he knew was as valid in heaven as it is 
upon earth, would not have been exchanged by him for a 
kingly crown. The declaration received then still remains 
his most precious treasure — a jewel he will never part with ; 
for it guarantees to him nothing less than the future favour 
of God and everlasting blessedness. But is Simon then not 
yet set at ease ? No, no ; not yet. His Lord has not yet 
restored him to the apostleship, which he lost by his triple 
denial ; and until this be done, he cannot breathe freely. But 
is it possible for one who has fallen so low to find courage 
to make such a request? Oh! do not judge too hastily; 
enter fully, if possible, into the disciple's feelings. He truly 
cares not for his reputation in the eyes of the world, but 
solely for a valid pledge that he again possesses the whole 
heart, the undiminished confidence, the entire affection, of 
his glorious Lord. But such a pledge he could only recog- 
nise by his Lord's recalling him to apostolic service. He 
dares not say as much, but he does not doubt that the 
Searcher of hearts will read this latent desire in his soul. 
Do you not herein begin to perceive in what true love to 
Christ consists \ This love shews itself in an intense longing 
to be firmly and confidently assured of the love of the Lord 
Jesus towards us. So long as we only slavishly endeavour 
to fulfil our Lord's commands, in order that when He comes 
to judge the quick and the dead at the last day, He may 
have no very great sin to upbraid us with, it is very question- 
able whether a spark of love to Him gleam in our hearts. 
It is possible that, notwithstanding a moral striving such as 
this, which is entirely opposed to the Christian character, 
we may stand in no personal relationship to the Lord ; rather 
in secret alienation from Him, feeling only sullen ill-humour 
and discontent at the " too heavy yoke " with which He bur- 
dens our flesh by His precepts and ordinances. We do not 
love Him until we feel the assurance of His love to be the 



144 



peter's love to christ tested. 



most precious thing which we could possibly desire. But if 
it be asked how, and by what means, we know that the Lord 
really loves us, let the sequel serve as a reply. A lively, sin- 
cere desire to rest in His love may serve as an indication and 
pledge to us that the heart of the Friend of sinners is already 
graciously inclined towards us. But His gracious disposition 
is especially to be seen in the way in which He leads us, sup- 
plies our most urgent wants, listens to our sighs, and answers 
our prayers. May our attention ever be most solicitously 
fixed on these points ! We often pray for this and that, 
which, when granted, leaves us so wholly occupied with the 
aid afforded, and the material benefit received, that the gra- 
cious answer to prayer therein experienced is entirely lost 
sight of by us. In a blindness that is incomprehensible we 
forget the Giver in the gift, and thus lose the noblest and 
best blessing comprised in the benefit vouchsafed us. 

Our Lord, with a seriousness tempered by kindness, looks 
at His disciple, and questions him respecting his love to Him. 
And the same question He puts to us, and to all the world 
too. The question involves a high sense of personal worth. 
The inquirer recognises in ftimself the individual to whom 
the devoted attachment of all mankind is due as tribute. At 
the same time this question indicates to us the rule by which 
all true human worth is to be measured. If you do not love 
Jesus, it is clear and evident that, notwithstanding all the 
outward shew of respectability and virtue which you may 
make, your moral worth is nothing, because you characterise 
yourself as a creature whose inner life is stifled and dulled 
to such a degree that there is no faculty left to receive the 
reflection of the Sun of righteousness. For beyond every 
attribute, Christ bears in Himself the perfect image of God. 
From Him there beams on you all the fulness of Him who 
is the eternally true, good, and beautiful. Yes, even holiness 
itself, and consequently the ideal of humanity, is in Him 



PETER'S LOVE TO CHEIST TESTED. 



145 



come down from heaven to earth. If you do not love Jesus, 
neither do you love light, but are a child of darkness. Then, 
despite your name of Christian, how far are you behind that 
wise heathen of ancient times, who perceived and confessed 
that "virtue would never be taught by precepts, but that it 
would then first be rendered intelligible when it appeared on 
earth in a living person, who would incline the world to love 
it ; " and who, had he met with Christ, would doubtless have 
fallen at His feet with ardent devotion ? 

If you do not love Jesus, you are blind with regard to your 
oivn real condition to the same extent as you are with re- 
gard to every moral object really noble and great. Were 
you enlightened, ay, did you but know one-half of what you 
truly stand in need, you would immediately give your whole 
heart unreservedly to Him who announces Himself with the 
assurance, " The Son of man is come to seek and to save 
that which is lost." The indifference manifested by you to 
this Divine Physician, Eedeemer, and Mediator, condemns 
you at once as most grossly infatuated, lost to all truth, and 
entangled in lies, illusion, and self-deception. You think 
yourself in health, whilst labouring under a fatal malady; 
free, whilst in slavish fetters ; righteous, whilst guilty of the 
whole law. Would you not declare a man insane if, having 
lost his way in a desert, he turned his back upon a person 
who offered to be his guide ; or who, when dying of thirst, 
should scornfully repulse the friend who came to shew him 
a spring? Such a one however, or a shipwrecked mariner 
tossed about by the winds and waves, yet disdaining to enter 
the life-boat approaching to save him, would be far less 
foolish than, the wandering sinner who carelessly passes by 
Jesus, the Saviour from all distress. We should call the 
conceit of such a man, which makes him think that he can 
do without the heavenly Prince of Peace, absurd and ridicu- 



146 



PETER'S LOVE TO CHRIST TESTED. 



Ions, were it not that the ruin which it will bring upon him 
is so fatal and tragic. 

If yon do not love Jesus, you betray, lastly, a want of 
spiritual elevation, which strips you of the last remnant of 
moral dignity. Your inability, not only to recognise the 
divinity which shone forth in Him, but also to appreciate 
the numerous favours and privileges for which, despite your 
unbelief, you have to thank Him, is glaringly exposed. Tell 
| us whence comes that political order under which you feel 
yourself so secure? whence that dear domestic life which 
encircles yon as with a hedge of roses ? whence the refined 
manners which adorn your social life? whence that sound 
mental culture in which yon so much rejoice? whence the 
\ higher view of the purpose and ultimate aim of the existence 
of the earth, in which you have been instructed from child- 
hood? and whence those elevating images of an invisible and 
ideal world, which, though dimly seen, like stars shining afar 
off, have nevertheless found their way to your mental vision? 
Whence all these things ? Did not Jesus create and organise 
them ? And you do not love this Jesus ! Besotted, blinded, 
mortal ! say where can we look in you for that spiritual and 
moral worth which will entitle you to a claim on our esteem ? 

II. We say further, that the question of our love to Christ 
is one and the same as that concerning the foundation and 
nature of the new life begotten of God. With everything 
that might otherwise decorate the man, the very germ of the 
! divine nature is wanting where that love has not yet been 
kindled. Therefore, Simon Peter is first prompted to look 
for this sacred spark in his soul ; and not until he has dis- 
covered it, is he justified or enabled to expect anything good 
for his future life. 

Let us now look at the remarkable trial which he has to 
undergo. The Lord begins to speak to him. They all hang 
~--~on His lips, but no one so intently as Simon himself. Oh, 



peter's love to cheist tested. 



147 



thinks he, would that He may act but forbearingly towards 
me! The Lord begins, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou 
one more than these?" What does this question mean, 
which all at once re-opens the scarcely-healed wound in his 
conscience ? Like the stab of a knife, it gashes his already 
poor and dejected heart. Every word in it, every syllable, 
is crushing — "Simon, son of Jonas" How strange, how 
chilling, does this appellation sound ! That is his old name 
again, the name which he bore in the days of his blindness 
and estrangement from God ; and not his new one, not 
Cephas " or " Peter," his name as a disciple and apostle ! 
How can this designation imply any good to him? And 
then the "Lovest thou me more than these do?" Simon 
understands but too well this reference to the past. The 
"Lovest thou me more ?" threatens almost to annihilate him. 
Once he had imagined that he indeed did so. " Though 
all men should be offended with thee" once lightly escaped 
his lips, "yet will I never be offended; though I should have 
to die with thee, yet will I not deny thee;" and only a 
few hours afterwards, alas, how had he fallen ! What a 
recollection ! — a draught more bitter than gall, and here 
poured out for him by the Master himself ! Simon's whole 
soul bleeds once more, and the comfort of the pardon which 
had been granted him is dissipated like water on a heated 
surface. He is sad, sad almost to death. But' the Master 
asks, and it is but seemly that Simon answer. What ! in 
the same terms, "Yea, Lord, L love Thee more?" No, 
never ! never again ! Well then, " iVo, Lord, not more than 
these do ?" Nor this either. It will never occur to him 
again to compare himself with others. Shall he then say, 
"No, Lord, I love Thee not ?" All that is in ins heart would 
revolt against that as against the blackest lie. Shall he then 
directly and freely testify, " I love Thee truly, my Saviour ?" 
His inmost feeling would stamp this testimony as true and 



148 



PETER'S LOVE TO CHRIST TESTED. 



well founded ; but such an expression would die upon his 
lips ; for he would remember, the high-sounding asseveration 
which he allowed to escape him on the way to the Mount of 
Olives was not hypocrisy, but sprung from his inmost soul, 
and yet only rested on most grievous self-deception. The poor 
disciple is in deep distress. He would have preferred to give 
his soul vent in silent tears. But speak he must, for the 
Master has put a question to him. Yielding to the melan- 
choly pressure, his troubled mind makes way for itself, and 
Simon answers with great tact, whilst most?* truly, and with 
deep emotion, " Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee." 
It is, then, " Yea," and rightly so. This " Yea " came from 
the very inmost depths of his soul. But, nevertheless, he 
cannot bring it out simply, unreservedly. Fearful lest he 
again prove the victim of self-deception, he invokes the co- 
operation of the Searcher of hearts, to aid him in the 
examination of his own, and that He may search into its 
very inmost recesses. " Lord," says he, " Thou knowest " — 
But what comes next? Is it, whether I love Thee? He 
might have wished to say so, but the spirit of truth within 
him opposed the " whether " as a false and affected humility, 
and substituted the word "that." And thus a confident, 
"Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee/' escapes from 
Simon's lips. "Oh, see Thyself," is the meaning of his 
words, " how all my longings, hopes, and desires, would, like 
tendrils, clasp and hail Thee, who art my only One, my 
All!" His Lord owns it, and, with infinite gentleness, 
hastily raises His profoundly-dejected disciple, and gives the 
royal mandate, "Feed my lambs!" which was tantamount 
to saying, "Now, be my apostle again!" Simon hardly 
dares to trust his ears. Seldom has any one experienced 
a more rapid transition from the deepest compunction to 
the most blissful joy than he. Just before he was a worm 
crawling on the ground, and in a moment he sees himself 



PETER'S LOVE TO CHRIST TESTED. 



149 



raised again to one of the twelve thrones which shall far 
surpass those of the most brilliant of earthly monarchs. He 
could call upon heaven and earth to help him to render 
thanks, and to rejoice. 

But what fresh incident is about to befall him ? Simon 
arms himself for a new struggle. Yes, it sometimes happens 
that sudden and speedy reverses occur in the life of believers. J 
Simon experiences this in the most astounding manner. 
The Lord fixes His eyes upon him once more, and, as it 
appears, more earnestly than before, and says, with still 
greater emphasis, '''Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" 
Simon noticed that the Lord this time laid special stress on 
the word "lovest/' as if He would say, "This is no slight 
matter ; the love which I demand is perhaps quite a different 
thing from what thou hast been accustomed to call by that 
name. It is more than a mere natural flickering, flaring 
fire ; more than a mere fleeting paroxysm of enthusiasm, 
kindled by the miraculous splendour which adorns my 
life ; more than a sentimental admiration of my moral 
beauty, or of the elevating thoughts of eternity with which 
my word has overspread the darkness of earth as with a 
starry heaven ! " Simon perceives the great scope of his 
Master's question, and at the recollection of the love which 
he had once so loudly boasted, he could anew for very 
shame have hid his face. Again he looks searchingly into 
his soul, and, if I am not mistaken, I hear the following 
soliloquy going on there : — " How, wretched sinner, do 
matters now stand with thee ? What is it to love Him ? 
what does it mean ? Is it to find no rest but in Him, not 
to be able to remain where He is not, to know nothing 
sweeter than His name, and to prefer never to have been 
born rather than to be obliged to live without fellowship 
with Him ? Is it to see heaven in the gracious expression 
of His eye ? to feel indifferent to every person and every- 



150 



peter's love to Christ tested. 



thmg in heaven and on earth, if we have but Him and His 
consolations ? Is that loving Him ? Oh, then, the Master 
himself may be my witness, that at least some small spark 
of love glows in my heart towards Him, in spite of all 
obstacles." Thus he thinks, whilst devotedly and fervently 
issues from His lips the assurance, " Yea, Lord, Thou 
knowest that I love Thee!" And the Lord, confirming it, 
says a second time, "Feed my lambs." Then Simon is 
again raised, intoxicated with joy, above all the heights of 
this earth, and is well-nigh dissolved in gratitude and 
delight. 

Has this scene of trial come to an end ? Not yet. Love 
to Christ is an important topic, and one not lightly to be 
disposed of. A third time the Lord, stirring the very 
depths of the disciple's soul, says, " Simon, son of Jonas, 
lovest THOU meV — and now the word "thou" is obviously 
the one emphasised. Simon stands dismayed. Why marvel? 
By this third question it was palpably our Lord's design to 
remind him of his thrice-reiterated denial. Simon, again 
ejected from his high heaven of joy, thinks, "Truly, Lord, if 
my asseveration, weighed by Thy balance, has ceased to be 
of value, I, faithless boaster, have fully deserved it ! " Oh, 
what sorrow invests his soul ! But he quickly resumes his 
courage, thinking, " If my love were once a lie and a decep- 
tion, it is no longer so to-clay. I am at least convinced that 
Thou, Lord, art the sole object of my affection, the only 
Kock on which I trust. Thou mayest slay me, but I shall 
never leave Thee again. Wert Thou to consign me to hell, 
Thou wouldst still be the magnet to which my soul is 
attached/' So he thinks ; and looking at his Lord, how 
tumultuously does his heart beat and throb ! How could he 
refrain from making a renewed and stronger testimony of 
his love? As if he would say, "Be Thou thyself witness 
between Thee and me, Thou who searchest the heart and 



PETEE'S LOVE TO CHRIST TESTED. 



151 



triest the reins/' lie says, overcome with sadness, but, never- 
theless, with great decision and confidence, " Lord, Thou 
knowest all things; Thou know est that I love Thee." And 
now the Lord gives free course to His own love too. All 
His purposes are attained. Simon's threefold denial has 
been revoked by His threefold confession. Simon is restored 
to the brethren, and the brethren are restored to Simon ; 
and, what is far more to him, his Lord is restored to him, 
and he to Himself. The Prince of Life looks upon His 
disciple, refined by the fiery trial to which he had just been 
subjected, with ineffable kindness, and addressing him in a 
tone which manifestly proved his final reinstatement in 
apostolical functions, He says to him, "Feed my sheep'' 
Happy disciple ! What a treasure is that which thou hast 
gained ! Thou knowest that thou really lovest Jesus thy 
Saviour, and this love is the foundation of the new life, 
begotten of God, the root and source of all sanctification, 
truly acceptable to God ; the " fulfilling of the law/' as 
Scripture testifies, and the sign-manual put on the children 
and heirs of God. 

III. When will it come to pass, my friends, that we also 
shall, unitedly and severally, be able to answer the question, 
"Lovest thou me?" with truthfulness as deeply felt, and 
with the same depth of meaning, as did Peter, " Lord, Thou 
knowest all things ; Thou knowest that L love Thee!' As long 
as we are without this love, our existence is meaningless, 
our heart a wilderness, our whole life a parched tract, which 
will at least bear no fruit for heaven. Without the love of 
Christ, we are like a vessel without mast and without rud- 
der, tossed on the ocean of life ; without this love, no tie 
unites us to the heavenly world, and we have laid up no 
treasure for eternity. 

The heart can never rest until it repose in the love of 
Jesus ; and neither shall wo be truly loved, nor shall we love 



152 



peter's love to cheist tested. 



our brethren, until the love of Jesus is shed abroad in our 
hearts. This love implants within the bosom an Eden of 
quiet bliss, whose flowers are unfading. It sheds upon our 
earthly career a gleam of the glory, a faint reflection of the 
unseen world which awaits us above ; it confers a nobility 
which the mists of the poorest temporal circumstances can 
never obscure. Yes, if we love Jesus we have re-attained 
to the true original dignity of man ; we have been restored 
to the most honourable position, and really raised again to 
the same elevation on which our first parents stood before 
the fall in paradise. We are received again into fellowship 
with God, are embraced and sustained by the love of God, 
and once more love what is divine and everlasting. We 
soar on wings of blissful hope above the heights of earth, 
have conquered the world, sin, flesh, and the devil, and are, 
no less than Peter and his fellow-apostles, each one in his 
own degree and in his own way, appointed to be the salt, 
the light, and the benefactors of this world, which we are 
traversing, indeed, as pilgrims and strangers, but cheerfully, 
under the fatherly eye of God, in the consciousness of His 
Divine complacency, and under the guardianship of angels, 
being well assured that we shall reach our home at last. 

If, then, love to Jesus be so great a matter that it alone 
can give meaning to our life and warrant to our hope, how 
can we rest until we feel its holy fire glowing within us ? 
But this love cannot be gained by working ; it must, as the 
apostle says, " be shed abroad in oar hearts by the Holy 
f Ghost" We make room for this love, we prepare a place 
for it, when we first bring ourselves into the light of God's 
countenance, and become fully conscious of the lost estate, 
of the absolute alienation from Him, into which we all, with- 
out exception, originally fell. The first tear of godly sorrow 
which trickles down the cheek may be considered as a pledge 
that the moment is not far distant when the love of Christ 



PETER'S LOVE TO CHRIST TESTED. 153 

shall cheer thy heart likewise. Love to Jesus takes its source 
in the conscious apprehension of His redeeming love. This 
experience, of all others the most desirable, must, however, 
remain unknown to us, until we have been awakened from 
that most wretched and pernicious of all dreams, the dream 
of self-righteousness. Let us, then, most earnestly implore 
the Lord to deliver us from that bewildering enchantment 
which by nature enchains us all, and pray as in these 
words — 

" If Thou, True Life, wilt in me live, 
Consume ichateer is not of Thee ; 
One look of Thine more joy can give 
Than all the world can offer me. 
Jesus, be Thou mine for ever ! 
Nought from Thy love my heart can sever— 
That Thou hast promised in Thy Word ! 
Oh, deep the joy whereof I drink, 
Whene'er my soul in Thee can sink, 
And own her Bridegroom and her Lord." 

Sinold, 1710. — Lyra Germanica. 

The hour will come to each and all of us when, from the 
mouth of Him who will award the final sentence as to our 
eternal destiny, the question will, with most solemn intona- 
tion, be addressed to us, " Lovest thou me?" The Lord, by 
His Holy Spirit, help us then to answer, with as much 
truth as did Simon Peter of old, "Lord, Thou knowest all 
things ; Thou knowest also that I love Thee." Amen. 



154* 



petek's vva*. 



XII. 

PETER'S WAY. 

"He that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is 
not worthy of me." Thus spake the Lord in Matt. x. 38. 
Whom does this passage not terrify? He has often repeated 
it with emphasis, has placed it, as it were, at the head of His 
programme. Nowhere does He make it more apparent that 
He neither aimed at organising a political party, which should 
bear Him aloft with acclamations as its glorious chief, nor, 
like the wise men of this earth, at forming a school which 
should trumpet its Master's name throughout the world, 
than when He makes such a demand as the above the indis- 
pensable condition of admittance into His kingdom. What 
does the word cross signify but a combination of the last 
degree of ignominy with the most intense suffering. And 
this is the mode in which He enlists all those who are dis- 
posed to devote themselves to His service ! They must 
whilst living not only make death an element in their cal- 
culations, but reckon upon suffering continuous shipwreck of 
their plans and fortune, as also of all their worldly projects, 
desires, and "aspirations. We see that our Lord can only 
avail Himself of the services of disciples who have the salva- 
tion of their souls more at heart than anything else, and who 
are so deeply and overwhelmingly convinced of their lost 
condition that to them no sacrifice, by which they might 
obtain grace and forgiveness, appears too great, not even 



PETER'S WAY. 



155 



were it the most precious and the dearest they possess. But 
these large demands, which our Lord makes of all those 
who are anxious to attach themselves to Him, justify us, 
however, not only in confidently inferring that His own self- 
consciousness, as the only Saviour, is clear and certain, but 
also that the blessedness which He has to offer, in compensa- 
tion for a life of self-renunciation and self-denial, is truly 
great. However much the flesh may be alarmed at the terms 
of the passage, " He that taketh not his cross, and folloiveth 
after me, is not worthy of me" it is nevertheless, when closely 
scanned, rich in comfort and promise ; and we shall see that 
it was received as such by a disciple, to whom it was applied 
with most especial and terrifying emphasis. 

John xxi. 18-23. 

" Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst 
thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest : but when thou shalt be old, 
thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry 
thee whither thou wouldest not. This spake he, signifying by what death 
he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he saith unto him, 
Follow me. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus 
loved following ; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, 
which is he that betrayeth thee ? Peter seeing him, saith to Jesus, Lord, 
and what shall this man do ? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry 
till I come, what is that to thee ? " 

This is the concluding scene of the manifestation of the 
risen Saviour at the Sea of Tiberias. What a wondrously 
bright picture does it present, and how powerfully are we 
again struck by the fragrance of historical truth ! That 
which is here narrated can be no fiction. Art cannot spin 
and weave such delicate threads as here present themselves ; 
life itself alone could. Observe especially these last historical 
incidents of the gospel narrative, and say whether you con- 
sider it possible that the imagination, even of the most gifted 
human poet, could have devised such a scene as the one before 



156 



PETER 8 WAY. 



us, in which everything is so evidently not of this world, and 
yet breathing the living freshness of unequivocal reality. 
What a variety of wholesome truths are here presented to 
us, most simply attired, and covered only with the slightest 
veil ! Come, let us listen attentively to our Lord's continued 
conversation with His disciple Peter ; and let us notice 
first, the intimation made to Peter; then, the question 
which the disciple addresses to our Lord ; and finally, the 
answer received in reply to the question. The narrative in- 
volves much more than is expressed. May the Lord assist 
us throughout our meditations, revealing that which shall be 
profitable to us ! 

I. Peter is abundantly comforted. Our Lord has re- 
instated him in his apostleship, a dignity previously forfeited 
by his denial of his Master ; our Lord did so upon his con- 
fession, "Lord, Thou hnowest that L love Thee" — a confession 
made in the deepest humiliation, yet with firm confidence. 
Our Lord, as it were, restores the sword to Peter, having 
already pardoned his former desertion. Peter has attained 
the pinnacle of happiness. But our Lord's tender care for 
His disciple extends still further. It is His purpose to free 
him from solicitude as to whether he will remain steadfast 
in his love ; to arm him for the days of combat on which he 
is about to enter, with the conscious assurance that he will 
remain faithful even unto death ; and at the same time so 
to forewarn him, that when again overtaken by trial, he shall 
never allow it to surprise him, or to cause his faith to give 
way. Moreover, He designs to clip the wings of his too 
easily excited feelings, in order to preserve him from fleshly 
vain-gloriousness, and to place as it were a monitor in his 
heart, which at every step he took should bid him ejaculate 
a prayer, tempering his fiery character by the companion- 
ship of a salutary sadness. Our Lord accomplishes all this 
by a prophetic announcement which was enough to make 



PFTFJi'S WAY. 



him stagger, following, as it did so closely, his reinstatement 
in the apostolic office. 

He begins with a "Verily, verily!" Yon know this 
His form of asseveration, which impresses on whatever 
follows it a seal that stamps any one who would call its 
truth in question with the guilt of high treason. In the 
use of this word "verily," He engraves that which He is 
about to say on the apostle's memory as with a brazen style. 
With an echo that will never become fainter, he will hear it 
resound throughout life. And when that which was now 
shewn him in the distance should actually befall him, that 
word " verily " would serve to support the consolatory con- 
viction that the Lord, cognisant of his future destiny, had 
not averted it, simply because He foresaw that it would be 
advantageous and salutary for him. Peter then knew that 
whatever happened to him formed an indispensable part of 
His gracious leadings, and that nothing in the world gives 
so firm a footing as a word from the mouth of the " true 
and faithful Witness." Let us also rejoice that the most im- 
portant revelations and teachings of Holy Scripture are 
confirmed by our Lord's asseveration, " Verily, verily." Not 
only does this expression, "verily/' place them in an elevated 
position like beacons, but our Lord, at the same time, pledges 
for their truth the glory of His divine mission — ay, all His 
prophetic and moral honour. " i" say unto thee," the Lord 
proceeds to declare to Peter, " When thou tuast young, thou 
girdedst thy self, and walkedst whither thou wouldest." In a 
wider sense this declaration is true of man's youth generally. 
In the full consciousness of his expanding vital power, the 
young man fancies himself able to make his way through all 
obstacles, and, were it requisite, to move mountains. But 
our Lord has our condition by nature especially in view, 
which is one of alienation from all fellowship with God, 
since man, listening to no other suggestions than those which 



158 



PETER S WAY. 



his selfish interests dictate, steers through life by a capri- 
ciously-selected course, and unfurls his sails to no winds 
save those which favour his own plans and desires. A man 
then says, " It is my will and pleasure to -do so and so/' and, 
in the absence of all restraint, imagines himself to be per- 
fectly free ; whereas in reality he is only the slave of his 
passions, if not, indeed, of a dark and gloomy spirit, of which 
he himself is at present entirely ignorant. Man, moreover, 
has no idea that he is being led about in leading strings, 
and not only so, but that every creature, even that which 
struggles the most against it, is in the same plight — led about 
by Him who does as He wills both in heaven and on earth. 
A Nebuchadnezzar unwittingly indulged his pride while in 
the fetters of Omnipotence, and a Cyrus, utterly unconscious 
of it, only executed His behests. On being brought into 
a state of grace, man resigns his natural freedom, which 
is only an illusion and a lie, to the sovereign will of the 
Lord of lords, submitting himself unconditionally to His 
guidance. Not, however, until we are thus subject to Him 
are we really free ; for man, delivered from the snare of the 
devil, and from the dominion of sin, is, in the ardour of his 
love, willingly subject to the Lord, and ready to execute his 
commands. There is a stage, however, in the state of grace 
likewise, to which our Saviour's address to Peter may be 
applicable. The period in which "a man girds himself] 
and walks whither he would," is likewise that which we are 
wont to designate as that of first love, and we do so willingly, 
though the designation be not strictly accurate. We then 
spread wide our sails in all the joy of faith. All that we 
desire is realised, and whatever we undertake for the honour 
of God succeeds. Answer upon answer crowns our prayers. 
In profession and in action we venture everything, and every- 
thing succeeds. It would seem as though the Lord had 
placed all the riches of His gifts, His power, and His aid at 



PETER'S WAY. 



159 



our command. Of these we almost dispose at pleasure. 
Assured of success, we apply ourselves, now in this way and 
now in that, to the furtherance of the kingdom of God, and, 
under the Divine blessing, everything prospers. At this 
season it seems as though the Lord wished to bring us near 
to Himself, and, by the successful experiences with which He 
favours us, to provide a viaticum for our further journey. 
But this course of things will not last always. To days of 
such continued joys — to such eagle flights — there generally 
follow days of another complexion, when, in the words of 
the prophet, a man's soul seems to be " even as a weaned 
child" and he has to prepare himself for a future similar to 
that which our Lord disclosed to Peter. 

" But when thou shalt be old" continues the Lord. " Yes/' 
think ye, " old age will preserve us from too rash enterprises, 
and is only too well fitted to temper and to quell the inso- 
lent ' I will.' " But, my friends, do not anticipate the future ; 
rather listen to our Lord. " But when thou shalt be old," 
He says, " thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another 
shall gird thee, and carry thee tuhither thou wouldest not." 
How does Peter receive these words ? You will not do him 
injustice to suppose that, startled at first, he shrank back at 
the words, "and carry thee whither thou woiddest not;" 
for such is the experience of all who walk in the way of the 
Lord ! Man would then fain do this, but he must do that. \ 
Inclination points this way, but the path to be trod lies in 
the opposite direction. Israel would fain go to Canaan, but 
they are ordered to go to Marah. We had hoped to gather 
roses, but thorns and thistles tear our hands. Is not, then, 
the will of the regenerate in harmony with that of God? It 
is ; but though restrained, the old nature still lives along 
with the new, and for the former the cross is variously 
shaped. The spirit willingly accedes to this crucifixion, but j 
the flesh trembles and recoils from it. Nor is it always the 



160 



PETER S WAY. 



| natural will which has to be denied. It is not unfrequently 
imposed upon us to deny the will of the regenerated spirit. 
Fain would we attain sanctification with the rapidity of 
flight, and yet we see our goal ever receding from us. Tain 
would we stand fast in the faith, and the Lord allows whole 
swarms of the most painful doubts, like locusts, to settle 
upon us. Fain would we ever feel the flame of devotion 

f bum on the altar of the heart, and breathe even now the 
• balmy air of paradise, in the full enjoyment of Immanuel's 
presence ; and we find ourselves in a wilderness, suffering 
the most trying spiritual deprivations, and we starve, despite 
all the promises by which we should be comforted. To pro- 
mote the glory of God, we would fain attempt great and 
praiseworthy things innumerable, and yet are constrained to 

* see our fairest, noblest plans, one after the other, wrecked. 
What could be more painful than all this ? But what was 
there aimed at in it by God's counsel and will ? We must 
learn to yield up ourselves fully and unconditionally to the 
/ Lord, and to rest satisfied with His grace. The more we 
are thus exercised, the more freely and the more richly will 
the powers of Divine grace develop themselves in us, and 
the more useful shall we become as instruments in the hands 
I of Him who wills not only that His name shall be glorified 
in us, but likewise through us. 

Not for a moment does Peter doubt whether our Lord's 
mysterious address was merely intended to prepare him in a 
general way for a life of trouble, but he holds it to have 
been intended to convey a distinct intimation of the mode of 
death by which (as the evangelist expresses it) <£ he should 
glorify God!' The words, " When thou shalt be old, thou 
shalt stretch forth thine hands, and another shall gird thee, 
and carry thee whither thou woiddest not, }> had already de- 
picted to him in the clearest characters the public issue of 
his earthly pilgrimage. " Thou shalt stretch forth thine 



PETER'S WAY. 



161 



hands." How well does he forebode both the mode and the 
design! "Another shall gird thee/' Who is the other? 
" Yes," thinks Peter, " it is He above, without whose will 
not even a sparrow falleth to the gronnd ; but besides Him 
— the imperial Roman executioner !" He "will gird thee !" 
Peter knows right well why he will do so. "And carry 
thee whither thou ivouldest not." What other spot presents 
itself to the mind of Simon than the bloody mount of cruci- 
fixion ? Had his interpretation of his Master's address been 
other than that which he felt bound to give it, all hesitancy 
as to his right apprehension of it was removed by its ex- 
pressive final clause, " Follow me!' It was now clearly re- 
vealed that Simon would one day share his Master's bloody 
fate. The end of his earthly journey was to be marked by 
a cross ; and if from this time it spread a dark shadow over 
his whole life, if a settled melancholy tempered the confi- 
dence of his faith, if all the splendour of this world lay bare 
before him in all its nothingness, who will marvel at it? 
When subsequently we hear this blessed disciple speak, or 
when we read his epistles, frequently it will occur to us that 
the cross is clearly present to his mind, and that the sight of 
it deeply moves and touches him. It is true the cross would 
secure him the desired opportunity of covering and obliter- 
ating his sad denial by a noble confession. Simon was to 
i: glorify God in his death" — i.e., he should not only seal 
and confirm his faith as having been wrought of God, but 
become an object in whom God would glorify the power of 
His grace in rendering it equal to the terrors of death. He 
was to travel in the same path as his heavenly King, and 
follow Him, not only as far as the disgraceful and torturing 
death of the martyr's stake, but go, at the same time, further 
still, into the realms of bliss. What a prospect is this for 
him ! How it must have raised him, and have sweetened all 
that awaited him ! But, nevertheless, there it was on record, 

L 



] 62 



petee's way. 



" They shall carry thee whither thou wouldest not." His 
human nature strove and quailed. In the meanwhile, 
Simon, be assured it is thy Saviour who has fixed all that 
shall betide thee, and who will never leave thee nor forsake 
thee ! 

Our disciple knows this, too, himself, and though not 
exulting, nevertheless goes on steadily in the way which is 
assigned him. " But," I hear you say, " a cross, the reward 
of the disciple's unreserved resignation to his Lord and 
master ! An appointment to the scaffold, the earnest of his 
renewed apostolate ! " Be not perplexed by this, my friends ! 
Thousands of times you will see the . children of God walk- 
ing in far more difficult paths than most of the children of 
this world. He who seeks a smooth path and shuns thorns, 
had better give up following the Lord at the outset. The 
poet sings, " God's ordinance is sure, and remains for ever 
unmoved. When the conflict is over, His friends and wed- 
ding guests shall be made happy ;" and in another verse of 
the same hymn, "Those who dwell in Salem's walls shew 
? their crowns of thorns." The Lord is only concerned that 
His children be prepared here below to be "vessels of 
honour," and fit for the heavenly life. Hence the flesh 
must be crucified, that the spirit may have room for its free 
and unbounded flight. 

II. After our Lord had raised the veil from the closing 
scene of His disciple's earthly pilgrimage, He turns round 
and leaves the spot. Simon does so too, as though he would 
at once typically fulfil the command, " Follow me." And he 
follows, not only with his feet, but with all his heart. How 
absolutely freed from all earthly ties does Peter feel himself 
by the revelation just made to him ! and how wholly is he 
thereby cast to depend alone upon the Lord ! As if the 
bloody hour were already come; and just as a child keeps 
near its mother when danger threatens, so would he fain 



PETER'S WAY. 



163 



cling to the Bridegroom of his soul with all the grapplings of 
his mind now melted in silent grief. And it is so with our 
hearts too, after having been long cheered with the sunshine 
of Divine complacency, when we behold the dark shadows of 
sorrow or of approaching death settling on our life. If love 
to the Lord have for a while lain dormant and inert within { 
us, how does it waken up again with renewed energy, and 
how intensely and sensitively conscious clo we once more 
become that He is our only comfort and our only refuge in 
life and in death ! Our affectionate yearnings and our affiance, 
developing themselves afresh, clasp Him with all their young 
tendrils, and are in harmony with the deep truth expressed 
by David in the words, " How excellent is thy loving-kind- 
ness, God ! therefore the children of men put their trust " 
under the shadow of thy wings." " Thou hast been my help. 
My soul followeth hard after thee : thy right hand uphold- 
eth me." 

But what does Simon still desire of our Lord ? Nothing, | 
but that he may be permitted to remain near Him. Were 1 
fiery billows surging between him and Jesus, Peter would 
swim through them to Him, as he once before had swam to 
Him through the waves of the sea. What wondrous magnetic 
influence has the person of Christ upon a sinner thoroughly 
aware of his poverty and helplessness ! There is nothing in 
the wide world which equals the attractive and enchaining 
power, which He exercises upon a contrite soul convinced of j 
sin. It is then first learned that the climax of future bliss 
will consist in seeing Him as He is, and in dwelling ever 
near His throne ; and the words of Asaph, " Whom have I in 
heaven but thee ? and there is none on earth that I desire 
beside thee!" most happily express the feelings of the swell- 
ing heart. 

Simon, following the Lord, had advanced but some few 
steps, when he looked suddenly round. In search of whom ? 



164 



petee's way. 



Next to the Saviour himself there was, as you know, no one 
so near his heart as the friend whom he at this moment 
saw at a distance following the Lord likewise. It is John, 
who here again introduces himself under the charming and 
significant title of which he is so fond. He describes him- 
self as " the disciple tuliom Jesus loved." Yes, the love of 
Jesus to him, of which he had received so many and such 
delightful proofs, — Christ's love to him, and not his love to 
N Christ, — was his boast, as it also was the source of all his 
comfort and of all his hope. But why is it that John pre- 
cisely here makes mention of that affectionate intimate re- 
lation with which his Master honoured him ? The motive is 
so much the more pleasing as it is truly touching. He there- 
by manifestly seeks to invalidate the charge of forwardness 
which might have been raised against him for having 
ventured to follow his Master, when he was in the act of 
leaving, without waiting for an invitation to do so. It is as 
if he would say, " I dared to do it, as the disciple who lay 
on Jesus' breast. I dared to-do it all the more readily, since 
on that evening when Christ declared, 'One of you shall betray 
me,' I knew the corruption and the weakness of the human 
heart sufficiently to distrust myself, that if the storm of 
temptation should burst, and I were not upheld by grace, I 
myself might be hurried away to commit that crime, and 
hence, therefore, was the first to say in astonishment, ' Lord, 
is it I ? ' Is it then unpardonable in me, if I too, as well as 
my brother Simon, heartily desire to hide myself under the 
gracious protection of the Lord who is my only rock and 
sure defence, as a chicken under the wings of the parent 
bird?" Perhaps John wished to give us to understand this, 
by recalling an incidental scene at the Last Supper. 

The ties of friendship which bound Simon and John to 
each other were closer than those which in days of yore 



fetee's way. 



165 



united David and Jonatnan. Oast but a glance upon the 
pages of New Testament history, and yon will almost always 
find these two together — the character of each respectively 
being so beautifully the complement of that of the other. 
And would you read Peter's life without the blemishes which 
here and there, in the other three Gospels, mar the portrait 
of that apostle, who is so deserving of love, read it in the 
fourth, where nearly everything which could be alleged 
against John's beloved friend, is alluded to in the most 
sparing manner, and covered with the mantle of love. And 
without prejudice to historical truth, there is here thrown, 
even upon Peter's denial, a softer light, because John takes 
a part of his friend's guilt upon himself by his mention of 
another " disciple " who had introduced Simon into the high 
priest's palace, and who had therefore brought him to the 
fatal snare ; and this " disciple " is, beyond doubt, no other 
than John himself. 

Now when Simon, most profoundly moved by the recent 
announcement, looking back, sees his friend John, what train 
of thought stirs within him ? " Ah ! " thinks he, " were 
you only to remain with me, and were it permitted us to 
fight and die for the Lord together ! " And with his mind 
so occupied, every sorrow seems lighter — even the dreadful 
cross itself appears less terrible. We can appreciate the 
feelings which involuntarily suggested the question, "Lord, 
and what shall this man do ? " — a question which has no 
other meaning than this, " What path in life will he have 
to pursue ? will he be my companion, and share my lot ? " 
And surely such a feeling cannot incur our censure. It is 
so human, and is based only upon tender, brotherly love. 
The bitterest trial is alleviated when shared by a congenial 
friend. And what a friend and companion he had in John 1 
To Simon abundant comfort and encouragement were in- 



166 



petee's way. 



volved in the thought that our Lord would grant him his 

heart's desire in uniting the path of his bosom friend with 
his own. But how does our Lord answer him ? 

III. His answer is not severe, neither does it put His 
disciple to shame. He knows the poor human heart, and 
compassionates our weakness. But Simon is not spared a 
well-meant repulse. A salutary lesson was conveyed by his 
Master's answer to him, and to us likewise. Our Lord says, 
" If I will that he [John] tarry till I come, what is that to 
thee ? follow thou me!' An utterance of majesty, intoned 
and delivered as from the throne of the Most High ; but per- 
fectly becoming in Him, to whom, after He had fulfilled His 
great work, all power in heaven and on earth was given. In 
sovereign omnipotence, He freely disposes of all that have 
breath, but especially of their lives and destinies whom He 
has bought with His blood. At His sacred pleasure He 
determines the plan of their lives, and, unshackled, He leads 
and calls one in this way and another in that. His will is 
universal law ; to it every creature is subject, and one day 
all tongues will be constrained to confess that He is Lord, to 
the glory of the Father. The time is coming when those 
who blasphemed His holy name, with Satan and Antichrist 
at their head, shall lick the dust from off His feet, and trem- 
blingly acknowledge " Him whom they pierced." 

1 If I will" says our Lord. How is the great armada of 
contradictions and objections to His Godhead dashed to 
pieces upon this His royal word ! How shall they, who pre- 
tend that Jesus never declared Himself to be anything higher 
than one of us, save as He was mentally and morally pre- 
eminent, get over this passage, " If I will" without laying 
down their arms? How can they manage with this passage, 
who, with shameless audacity, make the random assertion 
that Christ never challenged for Himself any other sway than 
that which He exerted upon earth by His own example, and 



peter's way. 



167 



by the spirit of His teaching 1 Oh, what a different estimate 
will they one day form of His power and dominion ! If He 
only " will" He can in a moment destroy, by the lightning of 
His anger, the whole band of His opponents ; but He can 
just as quickly, without effort, and by almighty grace, change 
the lion into a lamb, and raise up from stones children to our 
father Abraham. 

" If I will that he tarry till I come," says Jesus ; and we 
reply, " Yes, Lord, if Thou wilt, John shall not die, but shall 
remain to the last great day ! " But the Master does not 
intend to extend His disciple's life until that time. Many 
indeed have understood these words to signify that John 
should never die ; and this opinion prevailed even to the 
time of Augustine, for we find the legend, that at that day 
it was currently believed John had been indeed buried, but 
that he was only slumbering in his grave, and that any one 
carefully observing it might see the earth over him gently 
heave with his breathing. But John himself corrects this 
misconception in his Gospel. In it, speaking of this subject, 
he expressly says, "Jesus said not unto Simon, He shall not 
die ; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to 
thee?" Bat how are we to understand these words? Our 
Lord evidently referred to His impending judgment over 
Jerusalem. This overthrow, which attained, in the destruc- 
tion of the temple, its dreadful, and in every way important, 
consummation, both symbolical and historical, was — as it 
involved the final abrogation of the Old Testament economy 
— of the greatest importance to the kingdom of Christ and its 
development. This event, which laid the foundation of a 
new epoch in the Church of God on the ruins of the former 
one, which was removed but to make way for the new era, 
John survived and witnessed. But the view entertained by 
those who said, " This disciple shall not die," nevertheless 
approved itself true in a deeper and more spiritual sense. 



168 



peter's way. 



John lives among us in his writings and in his character 
even to this hour, and will continue to do so, to the joy of 
all God's children, to the end of time. 

But the lesson which Simon and all his future ^companions 
in the faith should derive from our Lord's response is clear. 
The Lord leads each of His people as in His divine wisdom 
and love seems to Him best, each in his own peculiar way. 
He appoints to every disciple his lot, as each severally has 
need ; and, educating one in this way, another in that, He 
makes them meet for everlasting life. This is the meaning 
of His words — " If I will that John should arrive at his 
destination by a smoother path than thou, Simon Peter, 
what is that to thee? resign thyself to my guidance, and 
' follow thou me.' " Peter has now thoroughly understood 
his Master, and assuredly will never ask again, " What shall 
this man doV but will make the words of David his own, 
"As the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their 
masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her 
mistress, so shall my eyes wait upon thee, Lord ! " 
With confiding humility, he is contented to submit himself 
wholly to the guidance of Him whom he loves, and never 
will he allow the " Follow thou me " to slip from his memory. 
And, in fact, he did follow his Master even to that mount 
where he stretched out his hands, another girding him 
and leading him whither the inclination of the flesh most 
certainly "would not." Tradition reports that he was crucified 
A.D. 64, during Nero's persecution, but with his head down- 
wards, because he refused to die in the same position as his 
Lord and Master had done, as being an honour far too great 
for him. Peter has been honoured, and not unreasonably so, 
with the name of the "Apostle of Christian hope." Since 
our Lord, as we have seen, had fixed Peter's horoscope, a 
deep inward longing for heaven pervades all his discourses, as 



PETERS WAY. 



169 



well as his two epistles, and the object of his sight, thought, 
and expectation, is everywhere the "day of the Lord." 

May the expression, " What is that to thee ? follow thou 
me ! " be brought home to our hearts also, and may we be 
contented and happy when we but know that we are under 
His guidance. That which the sacred hymnologist, Gottfried 
Arnold, sung more than a century and a half ago, originating 
in his own rich, heartfelt experience, still remains true, and 
will continually receive fresh testimony : — 

" How blest to all Thy fohWers, Lord, the road 
By which Thou lead'st them on, yet oft how strange ! 
But Thou in all dost seek our highest good, 
For truth were truth no longer couldst Thou change. 
Though crooked seem the paths, yet are they straight, 
By which Thou draw'st Thy children up to Thee, 
And passing wonders by the way they see, 
And learn at last to own Thee wise and great. Amen." 

Lyra Germanica. 



170 



THE KISEN SAVIOUR SEEN OF MOKE THAN 



XIII. 

THE EISEN SAVIOUR SEEN OF MORE THAN 
FIVE HUNDRED WITNESSES AT ONCE. 

When the apostle John (chap. xxi. 25) concludes his Gospel, 
or rather his narrative of the manifestations of the risen 
Saviour, with the words, " There are also many other things 
which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every 
one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain 
the books that should be ■written," we are not to explain it 
away as mere hyperbole or exaggeration. The word in the 
original * is not to be understood as referring to space, but 
to spiritual comprehension. In this latter sense, we must 
also accept the same word in Matt. xix. 11 — "All men 
cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given ; " 
and in the verse immediately following, " He that is able to 
receive it, let him receive [i.e., com; rehend] it." We know 
what the scriptural designation " cosmos " (/eoa-^o?) means — 
viz., the world. What John intends to say amounts to 
this — If all that the Lord had said and done upon earth, 
especially in His glorified form, had been recorded in 
detail, of what advantage would it be? Enough has been 
narrated for those who are anxious for salvation, and 
for believers. The evangelist says this himself in another 
passage, (chap. xx. SO, 31,) — " And many other signs truly 

* yjsspr\<rai, receive ; figuratively, comprehend. In Luther's version it is 
rendered begreifen. 



FIVE HUNDRED WITNESSES AT ONCE. 



171 



did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not 
written in this book : but these are written, that ye might 
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that 
believing, ye might have life through his name." A more 
ample, a move extended narrative would oppress rather than 
elevate, would suggest difficulties rather than convert, since, 
without doubt, far more wonderful incidents than those 
related, belonging to the now glorified life of the risen 
Saviour, and extending far beyond our every-day experience, 
and the limits of the laws of nature as known to us, might 
have been given. That which has already been reported 
excites thoughtless and sceptical astonishment enough, among 
the children of this world, to make them shake their heads, 
and is more than sufficient to exasperate their sinful preju- 
dices. To have increased the number of these incidents, by 
the addition of fresh manifestations, still further beyond the 
field of human vision and experience, might possibly have 
transcended the comprehension and the faculty of spiritual 
digestion even of the better disposed, nay, even of real 
believers. But it has nevertheless pleased the Holy Ghost 
to inform us, through the apostle Paul, of some things con- 
cerning the forty days which are not found in the Gospels. 
That this must have been clone with some special design is 
very apparent. This design will unfold itself to us as we 
more closely examine the apostolic communications in ques- 
tion. Let us begin with the consideration of an Easter 
scene, which seldom receives the attention of which it is in 

the highest degree worthy. 
« 

1 Cor. xv. 6. 

" After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once ; of 
whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen 
asleep." 

Repeatedly had our Lord intimated to His disciples, 



172 



THE EISEN SAVIOUR SEEN OF MOEE THAN 



"After I am risen again, I will go before you into Gali- 
lee." We know, from the apostle's declaration, that " God 
hath chosen base things of the world, and things which are 
despised, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought 
things that are ; that no flesh should glory in his presence," 
(1 Cor. i. 28.) The inhabitants of Judea, and especially 
those of the Holy City, looked down with pride and haughti- 
ness upon Galilee as spiritually and morally degraded. But 
what does Scripture say ? — " Where sin abounded, grace did 
much more abound/' To our Lord it seemed that there was 
no place so needing His help and salvation as Galilee. What 
wonder, then, that our Lord, at least until the formation of 
the Pentecostal Church at Jerusalem, obtained the majority 
of His disciples from the Galileans. And this explains why 
He selected this province to be the principal theatre of His 
personal manifestations after His resurrection. It is to one 
of the last of these — that on which He vouchsafed to present 
Himself to more than five hundred brethren at once — that 
we are now about to direct our attention. All that is re- 
ported to us concerning it seems, at first, like the frame 
without the picture. But when examined more closely, the 
painting itself will likewise disclose itself to us : and, in the 
first place, the scene throivs a corroborating light on the 
ministry of Jesus whilst on earth ; then it serves as afresh 
confirmation of the resurrection; and, lastly, it gives a clear 
idea of the great results of Christ's resurrection. 

May we become more fully conscious of it, and, by our 
meditation, promote our own peace and welfare ! 

I. Our Lord appeared to "five hundred brethren" — i.e., 
to five hundred believing disciples — " at once!' This account 
fills us with surprise. We could hardly have dared to cal- 
culate upon so rich a result from His labours. During His 
earthly career, we had imagined that the hundred and twenty 
faithful ones, whom we find assembled in the porch of the 



FIVE HUNDRED WITNESSES AT ONCE. 



173 



temple shortly before the feast of Pentecost, constituted the 
total gains of His ministry of love. During the three years 
of His public labours, we have seen Him, with the exception 
of the twelve and the seventy, almost ever surrounded by 
decided enemies, or by crowds who only shouted their hosan- 
nas to Him as long as they were held by the illusion that in 
Him their carnal ideal of the Messiah would be realised. In 
the measure in which this idea was dissipated were their 
loud plaudits silenced, and the " Crucify him I" of the scribes 
and Pharisees was substituted as the watchword of public 
opinion. Even the sick and impotent, whom our Lord mira- 
culously healed, but very seldom give us reason to hope that 
they recognised in their Deliverer from bodily infirmities 
Him whom, had they been anxious for salvation, they would 
have embraced with eagerness as the Physician and Saviour 
of their immortal souls. Of the thousands whom He had 
miraculously fed in the desert, more than a few certainly did 
continue for a while to follow Him. But why ? Simply " for 
the sake of the meat ivhich perisheth," as He himself up- 
braided them. Of the ten lepers whom He relieved of their 
frightful disorder by His creative hat, only one returned to 
thank Him for the ineffable benefit which they had all re- 
ceived. Whether Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, whose 
little daughter was raised to life by Jesus, ever became His 
disciple and follower, we know not. Nay, we read nothing 
of the kind with reference to the two blind men at Jericho 
to whom He restored their sight ; and we even hear Him 
saying, with an accent of serious warning, to the man whom 
He had relieved at the pool of Bethesda of a disease of eight 
and thirty years' standing, when He afterwards met Him in 
the temple, " Behold, thou art made whole ; sin no more, lest 
a worse thing come unto thee/' After such notices, the little 
company which Jesus gained to His banner during His earthly 
course could be but very insignificant in point of numbers, 



i 74 THE KISEN SAVIOUK SEEN OF MOKE THAN 



and would seem but as a drop in a bucket ; and this might 
easily, in some measure at least, diminish the high idea which 
we had cherished of the power of Christ's personal influence, 
and of His superhuman glory breaking forth through the 
veil of His outward form of a servant, as also of the irresis- 
tibly attractive power of His gracious and love-breathing 
nature. Suddenly, however, a multitude of Galilean con- 
verts attract our notice, of whose existence we had not pre- 
viously the remotest idea. They are more than five hundred 
in number, and in a moment the danger is over of our enter- 
taining unworthy conceptions of the sublime form borne by 
the only-begotten of the Father before His exaltation. Those 
believers all saw and knew the Lord Jesus personally ; they 
had carefully observed and followed Him in all the most 
varied circumstances and relations of life. As they had seen 
Him in mere human fashion discharge all the duties of social 
life, as son, brother, friend, as the guest of His friends, and 
as a Teacher of Israel, so had they likewise been witnesses 
of His superhuman deeds and wonders, and had ever had 
the best opportunity of hearing His incomparable addresses 
and teachings. And the total impression which His person- 
ality made upon them was so great and overpowering, that, 
without a moment's hesitation, they submitted to Him for 
time and for eternity, not only as the Lord of heaven and 
the King of kings, but rather as that Being in whom alone 
they recognised the Surety of their future bliss, and the only 
Saviour of their souls, who most perfectly corresponded to 
their holiest aspirations. But this is also of the very highest 
importance to us. A radiant splendour is poured over all the 
life and actions of our Lord, even prior to the hour of His 
exaltation, when we draw the inferences— which we are justi- 
fied in doing, from the sudden presentation to our notice of 
a body of disciples which had previously been wholly con- 
cealed — that there were other similar ones in the country, 



FIVE HUN DEED WITNESSES AT ONCE. 1^5 

equally quiet and hidden, of which history makes no men- 
tion, and that there were, moreover, very many more such at 
the time when our Lord closed His earthly career. At the 
same time, the account with which Paul here surprises us is 
quite calculated to make the present appear to us in a more 
consolatory light. Throughout modern Christendom, the 
greater part of which is in a backsliding state, there may 
yet likewise be, apart from those who let the light of their 
confession and of their lives shine in the darkness, a com- 
pany of Christians, veiled and hidden, which will be brought 
to light as soon as the great sifting of the nations, which 
assuredly is imminent, shall take place ; and then, from the 
mouth of another than that of Moses, this cry will be heard, 
"Who is on the Lords side? let him come unto me," (Exod. 
xxxii. 26.) 

II. Those brethren, exceeding five hundred in number, 
whom the apostle mentions, were now likewise in Galilee, 
when the manifestation of their risen Master was vouchsafed 
to them. In what place He discovered Himself to them we 
do not learn. Doubtless, the scene of this heart-cheering 
meeting was some solitary, unfrequented spot, possibly a 
mountain or a desert, where the friends had assembled to 
avoid the persecution of their countrymen. We are not in- 
formed whether they met there in consequence of some 
influential suggestion that they should do so, or whether they 
had agreed upon this meeting, for the purpose of general 
edification, mutual encouragement, and confirmation in the 
faith. We only learn in a general manner, that the risen 
Lord revealed Himself to them, and to them all at once. 
Nothing transpires concerning the manner of this revelation. 
It must have been a very impressive scene. Imagine this 
numerous assembly of true believers, gathered together under 
the open canopy of heaven, joyfully excited by the news 
which had reached them from Judea, burning with desire to 



176 



THE K1SEN SAYIOUE SEEN OF MOKE THAN 



hear it more distinctly confirmed. And lo ! suddenly, ere 
they are aware of it, He, who fills their whole soul, Himself 
stands in their midst in all the splendour of His new life, 
and salutes them with His sweet Easter greeting. What im- 
portant communications He must have had to make to them, 
and how must every countenance have been lighted up with 
more than earthly joy ! Truly indeed, if fancy, developed in 
poesy or myth, had had any share in the composition of the 
New Testament scriptures, this scene would not have been 
passed by without being embellished in every possible way. 
Here, to an extent transcending all that could be found else- 
where, seem to be materials for description and for painting. 
But how simply, how unadorned, how soberly, and almost 
dryly is the grand and elevating occurrence related ! It is 
communicated to us in the plainest chronicle style, without 
the least mixture of poetic embellishment ; so that it is at 
once evident, that here there was no other purpose than that 
of simply reporting what had been really seen and heard. 
But this most firmly establishes the authenticity of the Holy 
Scriptures, and more especially that of the New Testament. 
Eead it wherever we may, the inevitable impression, and that 
which strikes us beyond everything else, with reference to 
its authors, is, that we have, in them ail, to do with sincere 
and upright men. At every step of their narrative we are 
met with the fragrance of artless truth and simplicity. 

It might, indeed, be asked, why the apostle did not report 
that wondrous manifestation of our Lord to this body of 
more than five hundred disciples in a less circumscribed and 
more detailed manner to us, since he, undoubtedly, was in a 
position to do so. Let this answer suffice, that whenever he 
took up the pen, he was under the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit, who ever knows what is profitable, and how rightly to 
apportion it. The necessary light has been shed on the fact 
and fruits of the resurrection of Christ, by the more detailed 



FIVE HUNDRED WITNESSES AT ONCE. 



177 



accounts of the four evangelists. Those narratives do not 
allow us even for one moment to doubt that Christ really 
left His tomb ; and that in a glorified body. They further 
supply us with the most consolatory proofs that He, in His 
majesty, may still be looked upon by us as the same kind 
and condescending friend of sinners which He ever was be- 
fore ; that it was not until He had thus fulfilled His work of 
redemption, that He honoured His believers with the endeared 
appellation, and one so full of promise, as " brethren." And 
lastly, they assure us that, though unseen, He will remain with 
us just the same that He was before His ascension, even to 
the end of time. What then do we further need ? 

Too much cannot be said in attestation and confirmation 
of the historical truth of the resurrection for us who are weak 
in the faith. And because this miracle forms the foundation 
upon which all Christianity is based and supported, the Holy 
Ghost condescends to our necessity with especial munificence, 
and has been willing to do that for its maintenance which I 
might designate as an act of supererogation. Hence it was 
that He moved our apostle to this supplementary communi- 
cation of the scene of which we now treat ; and, indeed, this 
announcement serves to crown all the proofs of the reality of 
the resurrection of Christ. Paul wrote his First Epistle to 
the Corinthians about a.d. 54, and it is a fact incontrovertibly 
established, one no longer denied even by the most sceptical, 
that Paul of Tarsus, and no other person, really is the author 
of that epistle. And since this man, who bears the stamp 
of sincerity on his brow, publicly states before all the world, 
that the risen Saviour upon one occasion appeared to more 
than five hundred brethren at once, of whom some only were 
fallen asleep, whilst the majority were still then living, he 
must, of course, have been prepared, on this disclosure being 
made known, to see himself assailed on all sides by the 
question, where these witnesses were to be met with. But he 

M 



178 THE RISEN SAVIOUR SEEN OF MORE THAN 

was also perfectly prepared for these inquiries, and was ever 
quite ready to answer the inquirer with still more explicit 
statements. Thus every one who was disposed to do so, 
saw, in the love of truth, and the something more than a 
tincture of enthusiasm by which Paul and his fellow-disciples 
were characterised, enough to warrant his placing his confi- 
dence in them ; and saw likewise enough of the way already 
open by which they might arrive at the fullest conviction of 
the historic truth of the resurrection. Such a one only needed 
to resolve to go round and visit the friends, whom Paul would 
willingly have more definitely pointed out to him, in order 
to hear from the most temperate, and, at the same time, 
the most credible witnesses, the unanimous assurance, " Cer- 
tainly, He is alive again, the Lord who died upon the cross. 
We saw Him with our own eyes standing bodily before us, 
and He said so and so to us ! " But in my opinion the 
apostle himself here figures as an adequately sober and reli- 
able witness. It is impossible that he should be a fanatic, 
who says with all calmness and self-possession, " What I tell 
you really took place ; but I do not desire that you should rely 
upon my testimony alone. There are others, more than five 
hundred of them ; go and ask them, and they will all confirm 
by oath what I tell you." This apostolic appeal to a company 
of witnesses, of whom, at the time when he appealed to 
them, the greater number were still alive, must for ever free 
us from the slightest doubt concerning the greatest, and, as 
to its results, the most important event in the history of the 
world. The apostle's assertion is of no less weight to us 
than would be the corroborative testimony of the five hundred 
brethren, had we questioned each one personally ; and nothing 
is more certain than this, that much obstinacy and wilfulness 
are involved in withholding belief of the resurrection of 
Jesus ; whilst but a few grains of the love of truth are needed 



FIVE HUNDKED WITNESSES AT ONCE. 179 



to enable us joyfully to meet the exclamation of the Scripture 
witnesses, "The Lord is risen!" with the response, "Truly, 
He is risen again." 

III. The apostle writes, " Some " (namely, of the above- 
mentioned witnesses) " are fallen asleep." It is evident that 
he purposely and deliberately employs this consolatory expres- 
sion instead of the harsher one, " They are dead;" thereby 
designating the fruit of Christ's resurrection and the opera- 
tion of faith in it. Through it death is swallowed up in 
victory. To characterise death as sleep, and dying as falling 
asleep, would previously have been strange and unusual to 
the Israelites, and, indeed, to the world at large. "We first 
meet with it here, in the mouth of our Lord, when the death 
of Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary of Bethany, had 
been notified to Him ; He then informed His disciples of it 
in the words, " Our friend Lazarus sleepeth." But they, 
His most intimate friends, did not then understand Him ; 
for in reply they uttered a trite and commonplace truth, 
inapplicable to the facts, and said, " Lord, if he sleep, he 
shall do well." At the announcement that Jairus's daughter 
was dead, our Lord calmly observed, "The maid is not 
dead, but sleepeth ; " whereupon the messengers, who flat- 
tered themselves upon their superior information, laughed 
Him to scorn. After the resurrection, however, this very 
consoling mode of expression became, and very properly so, 
more current in Christian circles. Modern philosophical 
criticism has not ineffectively assailed the arguments, based 
upon reason, used to prove the immortality of the soul ; now, 
the arguments that conclusively establish a continuous per- 
sonal existence after death, especially those employed in our 
days, in favour of the immortality of the soul, involve no- 
thing more than is comprised in that one argument which 
is based upon the fact of Christ's resurrection. The apostle 



180 THE RISEN SAVIOUR SEEN OP MOEE THAN 

likewise is of the same opinion, and expresses it in the words, 
" If Christ be not risen, then is your faith vain, and the 
dead rise not." But that one argument is amply sufficient 
to convince us that dying is only a falling asleep to awake 
again ; an awakening, however, that will only prove blissful 
to him who through faith has become one with Christ. 
Here the argument is, " Does the head abandon its member, 
and not draw it after itself ? " And herein is the apostolic 
declaration fulfilled, " Christ, the risen Saviour, has become 
the first-fruits of them that sleep/' " Christ the first-fruits, 
afterwards they that are Christ's" 

We are all hastening onward to that time when it will be 
said of us too, " This night thy soul shall be required of 
thee ! " How truly are we to be pitied, if we do not then 
have Him with us, whom the " more than five hundred " 
saw face to face, and who caused all their nights, not except- 
ing even the last one, to shine as bright as day. Without 
Him, in the shadows of the dark valley we shall be exposed 
to questions exciting horror and despair, like flashes of forked 
lightning : " Whither am I going, now that the poor dream 
of my short earthly existence has come to an end ? Shall I 
live ? or am I threatened with annihilation ? If the former, 
how shall I stand at the last great day ? How shall I justify 
myself for a life spent in utter alienation from God, and 
frittered away on the merest trifles? And how can I vindi- 
cate the humblest claim to the favour of the righteous 
Judge, holding the scales of justice, and to the bliss of those 
who surround His throne above?" Questions these that 
will make a man shudder, and to which the wisdom of this 
world, even from the height of its pretended sapience, can 
only reply by evasive modes of expression, or by profound 
impotent silence ! But as soon as He who has robbed death 
of its power appears before the eye of our faith, as a well- 



FIVE HUNDKED WITNESSES AT ONCE. 181 



known friend, those dark and agonising problems are all 
solved in the most glorious manner. In Him we see the 
Surety, who, by His going before, has given us absolutely a 
guarantee that death is only a change, and that to die is 
merely to fall asleep. In Him we see the Lamb who bore 
and expiated our sins ; and in the act of His resuscitation 
from the dead in our stead, we see Him divinely acquitted 
and justified of all our guilt. In Him we trust, as the all- 
prevailing Intercessor and Advocate, who in His own righte- 
ousness, wrought on our behalf, appears in our stead before 
the Father, who pronounces the final sentence. In Him we 
embrace the royal Friend, who is empowered to introduce 
His beloved ones, as His own peculiar inheritance, into the 
paradise of heaven, however poor, unworthy, and sinful they 
may be. And what do we need more ? Nothing remains 
for us but to triumph with the apostle, " death, where is 
thy sting? grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to 
God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus 
Christ." 

Let us render thanks unto the Lord of lords, for that He 
has settled the saving truth, which we should receive with 
our whole heart, on firm foundations, which leave no sort of 
exculpatory pretext to those who still do not believe. For a 
man to reject the gospel against himself, is, in fact, now no- 
thing else than to oppose to that confirmation of it which 
the Eternal has a hundred times given to it, a silly or demo- 
niacal denial. Let us, moreover, be assured, that when the 
final injunction shall be addressed to us, "Set thy house in 
order" we shall find all doors bolted and barred against us, 
provided He remain a stranger to us who bears the keys, 
not only of death and hell, but also of paradise and of the 
throne of God. May He then become to us also " the Cap- 



182 



THE EISEN SAVIOUK SEEN, ETC. 



tain of our salvation/' and may He lead us, as His children, 
to glory, and may He graciously bear us when we prayer- 
fully sing — 

" risen Lord ! conquering King ! 
Life of all that live ! 
To-day that peace of Easter bring, 
Which only Thou canst give ! 
Once death, our foe, 
Had laid Thee low ; 
Now hast Thou rent his bonds in twain, 
For Thou art risen who once wast slain ! 

" Yes, let us truly know within 
Thy rising from the dead, 
And quit the grave of death and sin, 
And keep that gift, our Head, 
That Thou didst leave 
For all who cleave 
To Thee through all this earthly strife ; — 
So shall we enter into life." 



/. 27". Bohmer, 1706.— Lyra Germanica, 



THE BISEN SAV10UK AND JAMES. 



183 



XIV. 

THE EISEN SAVIOUE AND JAMES. 

In Psalm cxviii. the royal singer praises the Lord for the 
benefits conferred, and especially for victories granted him. 
But it cannot escape even the superficial reader that the 
psalm not only admits of, but demands an interpretation 
which extends far beyond the immediate cause of its com- 
position, and which stamps it, at the same time, as a pro- 
phetic lyric. We can appeal to the very highest authority 
to justify this view of the psalm, since Christ himself ex- 
pounds it as being a prophecy of Himself, and of His life 
on earth. In Matt. xxi. 42, Christ says : 11 Did ye never read 
in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the 
same is become the head of the corner : this is the Lord's 
doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?" In these words 
we recognise the 22d and 23d verses of our psalm. And 
when the people, rejoicing, and scattering palm branches, 
accompauied Jesus to Jerusalem, with the acclamation of 
the 26th verse of this psalm, "Blessed is He that cometh 
in the name of the Lord," the circumstance clearly proves 
that its Messianic signification was undoubtedly received by 
the Jews. 

It is difficult to say to what extent, and how clearly, the 
holy psalmist himself was conscious of this meaning of the 
inspired effusion of his heart. But assuredly it cannot have 
escaped him that the Holy Spirit's influences were upon 



184 



THE EISEN SAVIOUR AND JAMES. 



him when this effusion flowed from hij heart, and gave his 
words that prophetic form which he, the singer, himself had 
not designed. Eesurrection-music pervades the psalm. In 
David's victories are celebrated, in types of much smaller 
proportions, the glorious triumph over the world, sin, death, 
and hell, achieved by the future branch of the house of David. 

In those forty days during which the Saviour still re- 
mained on earth, and revealed Himself, now here, now there, 
to His own, the prophetic details of the psalm, from the 15th 
to the 17th verse, were fulfilled. "The voice of rejoicing 
and salvation was then heard in the tabernacles of the 
righteous" to this effect : " The right hand of the Lord doeth 
valiantly." . ..." I shall not die, but live, and declare the 
works of the Lord." We have listened to varied utterances 
of this forty days' rejoicing in the resurrection, and have 
heartily united in it. We are now about to approach the 
house of a " righteous " man, from whom the resurrection 
elicited but a monosyllable ; but his feelings were deep, and 
his interest in it intense. 

1 Corinthians xv. 7. 
" After that lie was seen of James." 

A fresh manifestation of our risen Saviour is thus briefly 
noticed without illustrative comment ; but it is, nevertheless, 
of the greatest interest and importance to us. And it is so 
of and for itself alone ; for the greater the amount of testi- 
mony the better ! It is, moreover, interesting with reference 
to the person to whom it was vouchsafed. Let us first be- 
come better acquainted with him ; and then let us consider 
more closely the manifestation which was granted to this 
highly-favoured disciple ; and, lastly, let us contemplate the 
fruit which it bore. May the Spirit of the Lord guide us 
to-day again unto all truth, and crown our hearing and our 
teaching with His lasting blessing ! 



THE RISEN SAVIOUR AND JAMES. 



185 



I. The person who is now about to engage our attention is 
James, surnamed "the less." He must not be confounded 
with James the elder, brother of the apostle John, and 
son of the excellent Zebeclee, the fisherman of the sea of 
Galilee, and of his wife Salome, that earnest, noble-hearted, 
and willingly self-denying follower of our Lord. This latter 
— one of the two apostles whom our Lord once called the 
" sons of thunder/' not as a term of shame and reproach, 
but in reference to their fiery, impetuous, and determined 
nature, and to their energetic, aspiring characters — was, 
according to Matt. iv. 21, early called to leave his nets and 
follow Jesus ; and he, together with his brother John and 
Simon Peter, were by Him honoured with truly extra- 
ordinary confidence. Subsequently set apart as an apostle, 
he, as it appears from Matt, x., was in constant attendance 
on our Lord, and was not only an eye-witness of the trans- 
figuration on Mount Tabor, but likewise of His passion in 
the garden of Gethsemane. And to our Lord's question, 
"Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and 
to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" 
he, together with his brother John, immediately, and with 
manly determination, replied, " Yea, Lord, we are able." 
And, for his part, he performed all he engaged to do ; for 
he was the first of all the apostles who sealed his confession 
with his blood. Conspicuous among the leaders of the 
young Church, and acting as head of the congregation at 
Jerusalem, he drew down upon himself the especial hatred 
and wrath of King Herod Agrippa. When, A.D. 44, a 
bloody persecution broke out against the Christians, James 
was seized, and, as we are informed in Acts xii., was sen- 
tenced to death by the sword. He walked resolutely to the 
block, considering it a high favour and honour to be the 
first of the apostles to finish his course decorated with a 
martyr's crown. A tradition which we meet with in the 



186 



THE EISEN SAVIOUR AND JAMES. 



second century relates the following : When the accuser of 
our disciple saw him approach the bloody scaffold with 
heroic composure, nay, with joy, he suddenly, and with 
deep emotion, broke out into the exclamation, " I also 
believe on the Son of the living God, and confess Him ! I 
also am a Christian." And when he also, in consequence of 
this his undaunted confession, had been likewise sentenced, 
to death, and was being led with James to the place of 
execution, he earnestly implored the apostle's forgiveness, 
who not only granted it, but sealed it also with a kiss of 
brotherhood, adding cordially, " Peace be with thee, my 
brother." 

We must then distinguish this James the son of Zebedee 
from him whom the apostle refers to in our text. This latter, 
" the less," who was early honoured with the name of " the 
just," was the son of Alphseus, and has been called the brother 
of Jesus. We are told in John viii. 5, concerning the brothers, 
i.e., the cousins of Jesus, that they had not believed on Him. 
But we are by no means, however, to receive this as a proof 
of decided unbelief, but merely as shewing a deficiency in 
enlightened and perfect faith. If they had not recognised, 
in their great relative, at least a prophet endowed by God 
with superhuman power, why should they have pressed Him 
so violently, during the time of their so-called unbelief, to join 
Himself to that procession of pilgrims who were journeying to 
the Feast of Tabernacles at Jerusalem, and thus at length to 
lift the veil and disclose His glory, that all the world might 
see His works, and no longer withhold the homage which was 
His due ? But it was long before they could pay Him that 
honour which was due to Him as the Son of the living God, 
and the promised Saviour of the world ; and this was their 
great difficulty — they had seen Him growing up from child- 
hood among them, in every respect so purely human, though 
entirely free from sin. Our Lord's declaration, " A prophet 



THE RISEN SAVIOUR AND JAMES. 



187 



is not without honour save in his own country/' appears 
enigmatical, but it is amply verified in every-day experience. 
Under like circumstances we should probably have acted 
precisely in the same manner as did these members of the 
family amongst whom Jesus grew up. 

We first make the personal acquaintance of the apostle 
James in the Acts of the Apostles. The evangelists merely 
mention his name. Thus much, however, we do know of him 
at an early period, that he was, " as touching the law, blame- 
less " and that he was an earnest, pious Jew, who had even 
taken upon himself the vow of a Nazarene, which was strin- 
gently ascetic, and persistent in renunciation of the world, 
whence he early received from the people the honoured title of 
the " Just." But precisely this his Old Testament legal piety 
would render it especially difficult for him to recognise in 
Jesus, who, instead of preaching up the commandments, spoke 
but of pardon and liberty, the expected Messiah, since He 
so little resembled the lawgiver of Sinai, and instead of the 
law, preached only grace and freedom. But it must have 
been considered as likely to promote the kingdom of God 
greatly if this serious, earnest man, whose character was so 
stable, and whose whole soul seemed devoted to God, should 
be won over to the banner of the cross. This desired 
revolution doubtless was being brought about in the dis- 
ciple whilst Jesus lived upon earth. Probably, however, 
he did not decide for the Lord until after His resurrection, 
and not until the moment which Paul has chronicled in the 
words of our text. 

II. The risen Saviour appeared also to him. How, when, 
and where, we are not told. Doubtless it happened in Gali- 
lee, and at a moment when the disciple was alone. It must 
have been a great and important moment when James saw 
Him who had been slain upon the cross suddenly standing 
alive before him, in the splendour of His superhuman glory. 



188 



THE EISEN SAVIOUE AND JAMES. 



The first impression which this unexpected appearance made 
upon him was probably one rather of tumultuous astonish- 
ment and confusion than of pure Joy ; but when he heard 
our Lord's voice addressed to him, his eyes were quickly 
opened. The straitened coat of mail, made of legal meshes 
interwoven, which had all too tightly compressed his heart, 
began to loosen, and heart and tongue, liberated, were free 
to confess, "Yes, Thou art He for whom my restless soul 
has, though unwittingly, ah, how long ! been pining." James 
was not a man of easily excitable temperament, but first 
deliberated, with intelligent and sustained thought, what 
principles he should adopt. But then, however, they took 
root all the more firmly and deeply in his soul, and anything 
which should afterwards have to displace them must indeed 
be strong and mighty. It would seem that in James a long 
time was needed before the Jew yielded to the Christian — to 
the child of the new covenant. Nevertheless, the leaven of 
the gospel at length permeated his austere nature to its very 
depths. This peculiarity of disposition, however, was not 
incompatible with the fact of his carriage and bearing being 
essentially that of an Israelite, stamped with a nobility and 
a tone which advantageously distinguished him from the 
other apostles. His reverential awe in contemplation of the 
infinite holiness of God and His commands, together with 
his childlike confidence in our Lord, were in him most 
marked, and formed the peculiar fundamental features of 
his spiritual character. He was, therefore, the very man to 
form, as it were, a bridge for his brethren according to the 
flesh to pass over from Judaism to Christianity, especially 
since he saw in the latter the ripe heavenly fruit in which 
the promising bloom of the former had resulted. In the 
same manner, no other at a later period would have been 
more competent than he to prevent the already threatening 
rupture between the Jewish and the Gentile Christians, and 



THE RISEN SAVIOUR AND JAMES. 



189 



to maintain peace in the Church of Christ between those two 
contending parties. And it is evident that he was specially- 
selected by our Lord for this purpose ; and it is no marvel 
that we see him occupy the place of his namesake who had 
been beheaded, and become a most distinguished leader, nay, 
the bulwark, or, as Paul calls him, the " pillar " of the Chris- 
tian churches of Jewish proselytes in Palestine. Simon 
Peter foresaw this future conspicuous position of the son of 
Alphseus, as recorded in Acts xii., where we find him prisoner 
together with James, the son of Zebedee ; for when, after 
James's execution, Peter was miraculously delivered from his 
danger by an angel, he then charged his fellow-disciples, say- 
ing, "Go shew these things unto James," (viz., to James the 
Less.) "and to the brethren." In Acts xv., where, at the 
solemn apostolic council, they are endeavouring to settle the 
contention which has already broken out between the Jewish 
and Gentile Christians, and to adjust the dissension between 
the former, who were so bound by their legal conformity, 
and the latter, who insisted upon their evangelical liberty in 
matters of faith, James appears with Peter as the leader of 
the assembly, and he it is who, as principal speaker, settles 
the dispute by moving that neither circumcision nor the ob- 
servation of any of the Levitical statutes should be enjoined 
upon the believers from among the Gentiles, but that their 
only burden should be the observance of the so-called laws 
of Noah, — that they should "abstain from meats offered to 
idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from 
fornication/' (Acts xv. 29.) This advice and proposition, 
which were joyfully received by the Gentile Christian 
churches, were now also thoroughly approved by the Jewish 
Christians, and were, moreover, not founded on dogmatic 
views and principles, and had but a moral signification, 
aiming merely at the restoration of peace between the con- 
tending parties. We everywhere find James viewing all 



190 



THE RISEN SAVIOUR AND JAMES. 



matters of faith from the same standpoint as the apostle 
Paul; and if, now and then, Jewish Christians, asserting 
that belief in Christ did not release them from circumcision 
and the observance of the Levitical laws, appealed to James, 
they did so seriously misunderstanding James's character, 
which certainly was peculiarly Jewish, and likewise the 
special call which this apostle had received to aim at the 
conversion of Israel. James, therefore, in order to prevent 
this misinterpretation, protests in the strongest terms against 
it, and calls those teachers who had persuaded the churches 
that the apostles still urged the necessity of circumcision and 
the observance of the Levitical law, "men who subverted 
souls," (Acts xv. 24.) 

It has been observed that there is scarce an indication to 
be found throughout the whole narrative of the apostle 
James's career, or in his discourses, of his ever having been 
honoured by our Lord with a personal manifestation of Him- 
self. But if he had not really seen the risen Saviour in the 
flesh, how came it to pass that he who was once so true a 
disciple of Moses, cast, as it were, in the mould of legality, 
should have advanced such lengths in New Testament free- 
dom ? and how came we to see him invested with the greatest 
authority, and even considered as a pillar of the Church of 
Christ by the college of the apostles ? It is true that he 
never expressly mentions the appearance which had been 
vouchsafed to him, neither does he specially allude to our 
Lord's resurrection. Speaking of himself, in his epistle 
addressed to the Jewish proselytes, he styles himself, " a 
servant of the Lord Jesus Christ," and characterises the 
Christian faith as "the faith of Jesus Christ, the Lord of 
glory ; " he speaks of " the return of the Lord to judge the 
world" and likewise of " the crown oj life which the Lord 
hath promised to them that love him." May we not, in 
these few expressions, still see the full reflection of the glo- 



THE RISEN SAVIOUR AND JAMES. 



191 



rious rays which beamed on him at that ever-memorable 
moment when he heard, who shall say with what ecstasy, the 
words, " Peace be with you ! " addressed to him by the Victor 
over the world, death, and hell ? The scope and design of 
his epistle gave him no opportunity of referring to Christ's 
resurrection and His mediatorial work. The dispersed 
Jewish Christians, to whom the epistle is more immediately 
addressed, did not so much need dogmatic as practical moral 
instruction and advice. They were in danger of disassociat- 
ing faith from the life, whereas the indispensable sign of 
true and saving faith is, that it should penetrate the whole 
life, renewing, sanctifying, and glorifying it. Where it does 
not effect this, it is a shadow of faith, and not the thing 
itself. This is what the apostle emphatically represents to 
the churches, as in the passage (James ii. 24) where he 
writes, " Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, 
and not by faith only ; " and so it happens that occasionally 
he seems on the verge of contradicting the doctrine of justi- 
fication, as it is set forth in the other parts of Scripture, 
and especially in St Paul's writings. But from more than 
one passage in his epistle, we sufficiently perceive how far 
James was from wishing to deny this doctrine, or even to 
weaken or invalidate it. It is most apparent, e.g., that in 
chap. ii. 23, he most decidedly testifies that the faith of 
Abraham was imputed to him for righteousness, and because 
of his faith alone was he called " the friend of Cod/' And 
just as unmistakably is he speaking in the 24th verse 
only in vindication of faith, i.e., of the justification of the 
man declared righteous by Cod ; not only before God, but 
before men, and in the facts of his personal history ; and 
this justification is undoubtedly only attained by works, i.e., 
by a holy life and a blameless course. 

In what degree James had really experienced the power 
of the resurrection of Christ his end shews ; of which we 



192 



THE EISEN SAVIOUE AND JAMES. 



are indeed not informed by the Holy Scriptures, but by the 
Jewish historian, Josephus, who was a contemporary of our 
apostle, and by Hegesippus, who died in the year 180 A.D. 
According to this latter, James, who is here also called " the 
Just," after he had, in a most self-denying manner, devoted 
his whole life to the difficult work of the conversion of his 
countrymen, was seized by the High Priest, Ananias ; and 
then, at the urgent demand of the enemies of Christ who 
were assembled at the passover, he was set on the pinnacle 
of the temple, and there challenged to declare explicitly, and 
in the presence of the multitude assembled below, his belief 
concerning the person and works of Jesus. The apostle, 
without hesitating for one moment as to what was the right 
thing to do, cried with a powerful voice to the surging mob 
below, and quite within their hearing, "I am asked about 
the Son of man. He is now sitting in heaven, at the right 
hand of the Majesty on high, whence He will come again in 
the clouds J" Hardly had this bold and faithful testimony 
been uttered, however, when the multitude below burst forth 
in loud homao-e, crying, " Hosauna to the Son of David!" 
On the other hand, the Scribes and Pharisees exclaimed, 
" You see that even ' the Just ' is entangled in the blas- 
phemous delusion ;" and hastening with their assistants 
up to the pinnacle of the temple, they hurled the faithful 
witness down from the dizzy height above upon the pave- 
ment below. Here they stoned him ; and his death-blow 
was given with a club. The more thoughtful saw in this 
murder the culminating guilt of the Jews, and augured evil 
consequences. In fact, the accumulated iniquities of this 
stiff-necked, obstinate race were full to overflowing. The 
last attempt of saving love, in the faithful efforts of one of 
the noblest sons of Israel, was thus wickedly repulsed by 
this people, and rendered fruitless by their obstinacy. The 
scourge of Divine justice was now exercised upon them. 



THE RISEN SAVIOUE AND JAMES. 



193 



Judgments were launched against them. But a few years 
later, Jerusalem was a heap of stones and ashes, and the 
degenerate seed of Jacob was scattered like chaff by the four 
winds of heaven. 

Such a one then was our James — a Christian to the 
inmost soul, only with a preponderating ethical basis, — a 
preacher of the old immutable law, written, however, in the 
heart by the spirit of love, and thus constituted the law of 
liberty. He stood in somewhat the same relation to Paul as 
Melancthon did to Luther ; to the apostle John as did Cal- 
vin, who organised and arranged the scheme of Christian 
Institutes, to Luther, the man of fervid soul ; for Calvin's 
character, like that of James, was stamped with the gravity 
and severity of the old covenant. " Manifold, and yet one/' 
is the device of the kingdom of God on earth. 

" Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving 
your own selves." This is the theme and the pervading 
fundamental thought which runs through the apostle James's 
ministry, which therefore takes a supplementary part in the 
chorus of the apostolic voices. Whilst other apostolic epistles 
have especially aimed at shewing how, out of the natural tree, 
the dead and degenerate one to which we originally belong, 
a good one, well pleasing to God, may grow, James brings 
its fruits to view, which will tend to justify the good tree 
in the eyes of the world. But James knows no other root 
of the good tree but living, earnest faith in "Christ, who 
was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our 
justification." Thus the unity and the perfect harmony of 
the apostolic writings are placed beyond all doubt, and 
characterise all Scripture. 

" Thy word, Lord, like gentle dews, 
Falls soft on hearts that pine ; 
Lord, to Thy garden ne'er refuse 
This heavenly balm of Thine. 

N 



194 



THE KISEN SAVIOUK AND JAMES. 



"Water'd from Thee, 

Let every tree 
Bud forth and blossom to Thy praise, 
And bear much fruit in after days. 

" Thy word is like a flaming sword, 
A wedge that eleaveth stone ; 
Keen as a fire, so burns Thy word, 
And pierceth flesh and bone. 
Oh ! send it forth, 
O'er all the earth, 
To shatter all the might of sin, 
The darken' d heart to cleanse and win ! 

" Thy word, a wondrous guiding star, 
On pilgrim hearts doth rise ; 
Leads to their Lord who dwell afar, 
And makes the simple wise. 
Let not its light 
E'er sink in night, 
But still in every spirit shine, 
That none may miss Thy light divine." 

Lyra Oermanica. 



THE APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 195 



THE APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN, 

We read in the history of our country of commanders of 
fortresses who, after being challenged by the besiegers to 
surrender, because their king had been totally defeated, and 
had lost his kingdom, have remained courageously on their 
bastions, and replied to the enemy, "For the time being we 
are kings in this fortress : take the town, if you can." But 
it was long before they could take it. Let us behave like 
those generals, for in our day there are those who urgently 
press on us to surrender the strong fortress of biblical Chris- 
tianity, since it has been undermined and untenable by the 
great advance of science. Let us not be terrified by them, 
but answer them with all calmness, " There is no danger yet !" 
Whoever shall assail the rock on which we stand, as any one 
may read in Matt, xxi. 44, c: shall by it be ground to powder/' 
Yea, what shall I say ? You, for instance, who would rob 
us of our belief in the divinity of Christ, have in your own 
hearts, were you but to look to it, the strongest evidences of 
the truth against which you strive. You deny Christ's super- 
human power and sovereign authority, and lo, it makes itself 
felt at every moment in your own soul ! Christ rules in your 
moral consciousness, which has become very different from 
that which you naturally inherited, and which, stamped with 
His image, remains indelibly impressed with it. He reigns 
in your conscience, rendered keen in its perceptions and 



196 



THE APPEAKANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



purified ; and it often accuses you of things which your 
reason would endeavour to persuade you are innocent ; and, 
though you may intensely desire to do so, you cannot succeed 
in silencing the judge that is within you. Christ rules over 
you, in that He binds you so closely to Christian morals that 
you cannot violate them without drawing down upon your- 
self the condemnation of your own heart, as well as that of 
public opinion. Yes, He exerts a sovereign influence over 
all your views of life, your aims, and your contemplations of 
death, eternity, and judgment. You find yourself unable to 
folly rid of those ideas which have taken hold of you, 
and which are now indelibly impressed upon you. In the 
quiet hours of meditation they inevitably rise again in your 
consciousness, and they assuredly will do so when the last 
enemy knocks at your door. With heavy cares and anxieties 
in their train, they break through everything behind which 
you thought to have intrenched yourself, and mock at the 
free-thinking sophisms on which you had placed so much 
dependence. 

It has often been seriously determined to root out and to 
do away with Christ, and all that He has established in the 
world, — the Church, Sunday, marriage, the domestic consti- 
tution, the " powers that be " as a divine institution, and 
many things beside. Vain endeavour ! Within a short time 
did He, although a war of extermination had been declared 
against Him, raise up everything from its ruins, and the re- 
bellious knaves were put in the pillory of public contempt. 
It has been attempted to undermine Christian morals, to 
emancipate and enthrone the flesh, to pronounce sin pure, 
which Christ's law condemns, and to render virtues ridicu- 
lous, which He, with divine authority, commends and insists 
upon. But what has become of those who presumed to form 
such designs as these ? They have come to shame with their 
abominable literature, and nothing remains for them but to 



THE APPEAKANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 197 



gnash their teeth in those dark places to which they have 
been driven back, and to exclaim, with the apostate emperor, 
* Thou hast conquered, Galilean ! " It has been planned 
to supersede the gospel by ''Humanism/' i.e., the ideas of 
human reason. In His righteous anger the Lord allowed 
this attempt to be carried on for a long time. Then pride, 
selfishness, irreligion, and disobedience, these weeds grew up 
so rankly, that the exclamation has now for a long time been 
spreading, and is heard both in the Church, in the seats of 
learning, and in private houses, " Oh that Christ would but 
rule the world again ! For who but He breaks clown selfish- 
ness ? Who instils piety and love, who plants the germs of 
all that is noble, good, and beautiful, but He alone ? " 

What great cause have we then to stand our ground, look- 
ing in faith to Christ, and to allow nothing in the world to 
perplex us concerning the gospel as the "power of God." 
The Easter scene, which, in the course of our meditations, 
we are about to approach, will yield us a fresh harvest 
of powerful calls and encouragements to do so. The Lord 
grant that they may be welcomed and entertained by us ! 

Matt, xxviii. 16-20. 

" Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain 
where Jesus had appointed them. And when they saw him, they wor- 
shipped him : but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake unto them, 
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye there- 
fore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, a,nd of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I have commanded you ; and, lo, I am with you alway, even 
unto the end of the world." 

The forty days are well-nigh spent, that delightful period 
in which possibly a faint type and reflected image is brought 
before us of that intercourse which the Lord purposes to 
vouchsafe to His people on earth during the thousand years 
in which Satan will be bound, when He will manifest Himself 



198 



THE APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



to them personally, appearing now here, now there, occasion- 
ally meeting them with his salutation of " Peace ! " It is our 
Lord's last manifestation but one before His ascension which 
will now engage our attention, and incontestably likewise 
the most important and sublime of all, rendered so by the 
didactic and preceptive address which He then delivered. I 
do not doubt but that you will follow me with joy to the 
scene, especially in these dark, tumultuous, and eventful days, 
when in the uproar of the wildest party struggles, and in 
the revolutions of one nation after another, the world is 
almost beginning to faint for fear of the things which shall 
come to pass, and even to believers the question occurs most 
oppressively, for it is not concealed from them that " Satan is 
very wroth/' and is preparing for the last decisive struggle for 
dominion over the world. Who shall be master of the future ? 
Shall Satan, the prince of darkness, or Christ, the Lord of 
glory ? In the Gospel before us we receive the decisive and 
conclusive answer to this question, involving so much solicitude. 
Here He stands before us, to whom undoubtedly, after all the 
tumult and confusion, the crown will devolve, as His ever- 
lasting inheritance ; and by whom would you rather that it 
should be worn in heaven and on earth, than by Him ? May 
the announcement descending from heaven soon resound 
through the earth, " I have set my king upon my holy hill ! " 

Our Gospel renders us a threefold valuable service. In 
the first place, it sets the person of Jesus clearly forth before 
us ; secondly, it discloses to us the world's future ; and, 
lastly, it enlightens our present darkness. Let us convince 
ourselves more thoroughly of these things, and may the 
Lord grant us a rich draught of refreshment and encourage- 
ment from the well of consolation which here springs up 
again for us irrepressibly and inexhaustibly ! 

I. The scene of the transaction under our consideration 
was a solitary mountain-top in Galilee ; and our Lord's 



THE APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



199 



manifestation there must neither be confounded with that 
which took place, immediately before His ascension, on the 
Mount of Olives, nor with that we have already considered, 
which was vouchsafed to more than five hundred brethren 
at once in Galilee. It occurred after the latter, and before 
the former, and I do not doubt but that the apostle had this 
one in view in the passage contained in 1 Cor. xv. 7, "After 
that, he was seen of all the apostles." Our Lord had ex- 
pressly directed His apostles to meet Him at this particular 
place, and we may well imagine with what high expectations 
they were assembled there ; and lo ! suddenly, our Lord 
stood again before them, radiant with all His triumphal 
glory, seeing which they immediately fall down and worship 
Him. But how runs the narrative? "Some," we read, 
"■ doubted." This seems strange ; it is, however, but another 
proof of the truth of the evangelical report. No mythical 
fancy would ever have suggested the recurrence of uncer- 
tainty and doubt to the apostles, when they had already 
seen the risen Saviour so many times, neither would it have 
marred the picture by the contradiction of simultaneous 
worship and doubt. But the evangelist tells us plainly and 
simply, like a chronicler from his personal observation, what 
had occurred, and is hence quite unconcerned as to whether 
his narrative appear contradictory or not. But is there not 
really a contradiction here ? Undoubtedly ; but such a 
one as frequently meets us in real life, and as often trans- 
pires in our own souls, as, for instance, when we feel con- 
strained to exclaim with the afflicted father of the tormented 
child, ''Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief ; " or even 
to join in the words of Job, " If I had called, and he had 
answered me ; yet would I not believe that he had hearkened 
unto my voice." There appears to be no reason why the 
passage should not be understood in this sense, that those of 
the eleven who doubted, did so because they hesitated as to 



200 



THE APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



whether they really saw a glorified form presented to their 
eyes, or whether they themselves were but dreaming. But 
the question might for a moment flash through their minds, 
whether He really were their Lord and Master, since the 
mode of His manifestation to them was with the rapidity of 
lightning, and whether He were not possibly a phantom, 
an angelic being from the invisible world ; and so much the 
more readily might they do so since we have reason to 
know that the manifestation of the Prince of life was more 
perfectly divested of all that is earthly, in proportion as the 
time drew nearer for Him to return ; His form became more 
spiritualised, and of greater splendour. But our Lord 
hastens to free those from their foolish ideas who were 
alarmingly surprised at the spirit-like mode in which He 
presented Himself before them. With His wonted con- 
descension, He commands those who were prostrate in the 
dust to rise, and He speaks to them in order to raise the 
veil which had hitherto concealed from them His person 
and His superhuman dignity and majesty. Before He 
departed from them, they were to have their last doubt 
removed in reference to Him in whom they had trusted 
and now placed their confidence. On this head, my brethren, 
we likewise must be perfectly clear. All our peace depends 
upon it. Christianity is not mere doctrine, but the prac- 
tical realisation of the work of redemption. It is the 
history of the divine scheme of man's salvation, and as such, 
wholly depends on the person of the Saviour. Its truth 
hinges upon His having been the right and qualified man, 
born to achieve the great work, which He, as such, fully 
accomplished. Well do I know the strange point of view 
taken by numbers of our contemporaries, who would not 
soil their lips with the assertion that Christ was nothing 
more than a mere man ; who nevertheless endeavour, with 
extraordinary shyness, to evade the question that continually 



THE APPEAEANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



201 



presses upon them, Who then was He ? It is as if they had 
not the courage to look straight at the inevitable conse- 
quence of their protests against an unbelief which, with 
reference to the person of Christ, refuses to recognise Him 
as being more than man, or to allow their vacillating and 
irresolute conception of the person of Christ to be moulded 
and consummated in the acknowledgment, that if He be of 
a higher order than mortal man descended of Adam, and 
not an angel, but the Lord and ruler of angels, then He 
can have been no other than God himself, the only-begotten 
and essential Son of the everlasting Father. But they 
shrink back from this representation as though it involved 
the suggestion of some most audacious proposition. They 
get a distant peep into the Christian paradise, where they 
see the tree of life in all its splendour, but never enjoy its 
fruits. They think that whatever is contradictory to reason 
may never be appropriated. But what is there contra- 
dictory to reason in this great mystery, which indeed sur- 
passes the range of human comprehension, that the all- 
sufficient and inscrutable God should, before the foundation 
of the world, without prejudice to His own fulness, have 
shared His Divine glory with another " I myself/' begotten 
of Himself, who became Himself objectively ? what is there 
inconceivable in the "mystery of godliness," that that Son 
of God, existing prior to creation, should become man in the 
person of Christ, since this miraculous way appears to be 
the only one by which the salvation of the human race from 
eternal ruin was possible 1 

But let us listen to Him who came down Himself from 
heaven to us. He will not pass through our midst as a Being 
of a questionable nature, but wills that we should see Him in 
definite and distinct outline and form. He who views His 
person with but indistinct impressions, will likewise have but 
fluctuating ideas as to his soul's welfare and bliss without 



202 



THE APPEAKANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



really attaining them. He who through indecision and in- 
distinctness of apprehension has but confidence to exclaim, 
" Thou glorious Being ! Thou superhuman Being ! 
Thou ineffable Being ! " and does not boldly come to the 
decision of Thomas, when he cried, " My Lord and my God ! " 
will likewise never inherit the blessing of Thomas, But hear 
how He himself prepares the way for this heroic faith : "All 
power" says He, "is given unto me in heaven and on earth!' 
What do you say to this declaration ? Does it involve less 
than the proclamation issued just before the enthronement of 
the King of kings and the sovereign mandate, that before His 
Majesty "every knee should bow, of things in heaven and 
of things on earth ? " Were it but less decided, and to the 
effect, "Power is given unto me," or even " All power on 
earth," His declaration would have admitted of a weakened 
interpretation, and could have restricted its import with re- 
ference to the spiritual influence which Christ would exercise 
by His teaching. Now, however, there is no opportunity 
given for a subtilised and meagre construction. This pas- 
sage stands like a rock, against which all assaults upon the 
divinity of Christ must founder. Like a hurricane, it pros- 
trates all the Babel towers of doubts and contradictions. 
Unbelief might indeed desire to intrench itself behind the 
question, whether this important testimony really proceeded 
from the lips of Jesus. But is it only to be found there, 
alone and isolated? Has not our Lord virtually said the 
same thing in many other places ? Did He not say, in Matt, 
xi. 27, "All things are delivered unto me of my Father?" 
Does He not, in His prayer as High Priest, testify that the 
Father had given Him power over all flesh ? (John xvii. 2.) 
And does He express anything less than this, when He claims 
the same honour for Himself that is due to the Father, which 
He has done repeatedly, and enumerates the final resurrec- 
tion, the holding of the last judgment, the award fixing the 



THE APPEAKANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



203 



eternal destiny of mortals, and the creation of the new 
heavens and the new earth, as included amongst His offices 
and kingly prerogatives? But He nowhere testified so 
directly, so expressly, and so plainly, whom He desired Him- 
self to be considered, as in the farewell salutation to His 
apostles, in which we hear Him say, "All power is given 
unto me in heaven and on earth." It is true that He says, 
" is given to me," and by this He means that it is as acknow- 
ledged to be His, as the Son of man, after He had carried out 
for us the great work of mediation. Not until then could all 
power be given Him. He was invested, as King of Peace, 
with absolute power, and it was covenanted, in connexion 
with His propitiation, that He should be so. He did not 
possess it until He had fulfilled this work ; not until then 
could He bind Satan, extend the limits of His kingdom from 
pole to pole, or blow with the creative breath of His reviving 
Spirit upon " the dry bones " of humanity, dispensing grace, 
and opening heaven to poor sinners, where Moses most right- 
eously condemned. He can now act most freely. Eternal 
justice nowhere obstructs His path. He exercises joint 
authority with His Father, and the goal of universal history 
is the world's subjection to His sceptre of peace. 

What must the eleven have experienced when this grand 
announcement from the lips of their risen Lord sounded in 
their ears ? The declaration must ever have remained pre- 
sent to their minds. We find the whole apostolic Church 
upon their knees before Jesus. The question whether Christ 
be to be worshipped or not was never mooted until modern 
times, until these days of weak faith arid morbid doubts. 
Throughout all ages His Church had considered this a matter 
of course. The eleven, whom you see bow before Him yon- 
der on the Galilean mountains, formed the first link of that 
chain of worshippers which has uninterruptedly extended 
through eighteen centuries down to the present day, and 



204 



THE APPEAKANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



amongst them you will find the best, the most enlightened, 
and the noblest of every age. Of this chain, which loses 
itself in the cloud of witnesses of whom the world was not 
worthy, strive ye also to be links. May that which you see 
but darkly, and that which you believe but imperfectly, by 
the warrant of the testimony now brought before you, be 
confirmed in clear, manly, and fixed assurance. Acknow- 
ledge with the Jews that you are constrained to pass sen- 
tence of death upon Jesus as the worst of all blasphemers if 
you hesitate to bow the knee to Him as the co-equal Lord 
of heaven. The former you will not wish to do. Well, then, 
decide consistently to do the latter, and especially since in 
our time the most terrible spirits of darkness struggle for 
the dominion of the world. Heartily rejoice that "all power 
in heaven and on earth " is given to Him whose name is 
Immanuel, and who, in the passage of the Gospel before us, 
throws the veil entirely aside. 

II. The hope of the world rests on this foundation — that 
He fills the throne of power. Did I not know this, I should 
doubt as to the world's future, notwithstanding my belief in 
the existence of a personal God. What other course of action 
remained open to God, holy and righteous, with reference to 
mankind perishing in sin and in audacious rebellion against 
Him and His sacred government, but to abandon them to 
their own ruinous courses, and to resign them to the dark 
spirit to which they had sold themselves to everlasting death? 
Now, however, I know that this night-clad earth, with its 
growth of thorns and thistles, is committed to His charge 
to whom the eternal Father has confided the great work of 
mediation between Himself and sinners ; and now here 
below, in this curse-laden valley of death, He meets me, and 
says, " The Son of man came not into the world to condemn 
the world, but that the world through him might be saved f 
whereupon, with the high priest Joshua, I defy him who 



THE APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



205 



goeth about as a roaring lion, and say, " The Lord rebuke 
thee, Satan ! even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem," 
(Zech. iii. 2.) Now, comforted in spirit, I steer my little 
bark of hope through all the hellish noise and tumult of the 
dark abyss which at present encompasses me, and in spirit 
anchor on the shores of a future whose bright and peaceful 
splendour far transcends the glory of the lost paradise. 

A royal commission is issued by our risen Lord, following 
upon this proclamation of His majesty. Hear Him ! There- 
fore, (because all power is given to me,) " go ye into all 
the world, and teach [literally, make scholars and disciples 
of] all nations, baptizing them [in the original, whilst ye 
baptize them] in the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things 
ivhatsoever I have commanded you!' The commission is, 
indeed, concise ; but one more kinglike or more grand was 
never heard on earth. What commanding confidence breathes 
in these words ! What certainty of victory is disclosed by 
them ! They contain the governmental programme of the 
Prince of the kings of the earth — one wholly worthy of Him 
and peculiarly His own. Do but consider who they were 
whom He thus addressed. There stand ''the poor, illiterate 
men, bred in poverty, and destitute of all worldly tact ; these 
are they to whom He exhibits the wide, wide world, with its 
millions lapsed to the powers of darkness, whom He charges 
them to conquer for Him. What a commission ! And who 
will doubt that He seriously purposed it ? To Himself, 
indeed, the injunction appeared by no means so gigantic. 
How, otherwise, would His delivery have been so calm, 
so quiet? What unparalleled sublimity in the words, 
"Go ye!" They are equivalent to the word of command, 
" Forward ! " when given on the battle-field ; and how trans- 
parently do they disclose our Lord's self-consciousness ! He 
intends not only to carry the banner Himself before His 



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agents, but likewise to wield the sword of the Spirit in their 
hands. They will conquer, because He will clothe them with 
His might, will arm and equip them with His strength. And 
have they not triumphed in point of fact ? At our Lord's 
word these weak and despicable witnesses went forth. Before 
them lay Greece, intoxicated with the idolatry of the crea- 
ture, and entangled in the enchantment of material and 
sensuous beauty ; before them was Rome, in all its insolence 
of wide-spread dominion and self-applauding culture ; before 
them was Egypt, which, by its all-powerful priestly castes, 
seemed apparently ensnared for ever in the worship of 
nature ; and before them were how many lands beside, still 
wrapped in blackest darkness, to which they were now 
directed ! But they went ; and how long was it before the 
idols of the world everywhere bowed themselves before the 
crucified God whom these messengers proclaimed, as Dagon 
once did before the ark of the covenant? and ere long, the 
banner of the cross, though regarded by the world as the 
most contemptible it had ever known, waved as a triumphant 
standard from the pinnacles of the proudest pagodas and of 
world-renowned halls of philosophy. 

We shall refrain from a more particular exposition of our 
Lord's sublime charge to His disciples, and not entering on 
the deeper signification of baptism, shall consider it merely 
as the mode of initiation into Christ's Church ; we shall con- 
tent ourselves w T ith taking the passage, in its most general 
sense, as a divine commission for the spiritual conquest of 
the world. And we shall find the world's future fully dis- 
closed with prospects the most consolatory. The foundation 
of an empire of peace which shall embrace the whole world 
is involved in His plan, whilst all power is His too ; hence 
the establishment of this kingdom must necessarily come to 
pass, oppose it what may. He will not have engaged in this 
hot warfare with the world in vain. It shall be transformed 



THE APPEARANCE Off THE MOUNTAIN, 



207 



into a mirror of the Almighty's splendour, into an Eden in 
which " mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and 
peace kiss each other." It shall come to pass that everything 
that hath breath shall bow to Immanuers sceptre ; and that 
kings shall cast down their crowns at His feet ; that selfishness 
shall everywhere give place to pure love, and all government 
shall proceed from Zion ; my, that after Satan has been 
bound in the pit, the whole human race shall become one 
fold under one Shepherd, and every house shall be formed 
into "a tabernacle of God with men!' This is the "new 
earth " of which we hear the Lord say, by the prophet Isaiah, 
Ixvi. 22, it "shall remain before me." This is the everlast- 
ing Jerusalem which shall come down from heaven to earth. 
The sublime injunction, " Go ye " still resounds. Nay, it is 
now heard throughout the earth more loudly than heretofore. 
And He who gives the word of command knows assuredly 
that the rather will put all His enemies under His feet, and 
that the earth shall be rilled with the glory of the Lord. 

III. But when will this happen? The Father hath put 
the " hour " in His own power, (Acts i 7.) And when that is 
come our Lord will " speedily " accomplish all that remains 
to be done. Can you still ignore that He, to whom all power 
is given, is now already every day at His work ? Have you 
run in the wrong direction with your eyes fixed on some dark 
corner, unconscious of what was going on behind you ? Do 
not the triumphant shouts of His heralds and standard- 
bearers already reach your ear from distant heathen lands ? 
Is it not even now a great fact that at this moment there 
are more than six thousand witnesses baptized with the Spirit 
of Christ, at twelve hundred different stations, who preach 
the doctrine of the cross to perishing Christless souls? — 
that nearly a million of converts who, some few decades 
since, lay in darkness and in the shadow of death, now join 
with us in worship at the feet of the Lamb ? — that upon the 



208 



THE APPEAEANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



most moderate computation, some ten or twelve thousand 
souls are annually brought from amongst the heathen to our 
Lord, as fruits of the travail of His soul ? — that the numbers 
of heathen children who are being educated in Christian 
schools, the seed-corn of a glorious future harvest, can scarce 
be numbered ? — that large tracts of land and whole islands, 
which, but a short time since, were mantled with the blackest 
night of sin and delusion, now illumined by the light of 
Christianity, emerge from their darkness as lovely gardens 
of the Lord's own planting ? And can you overlook the im- 
portant events which are now transpiring in the very crown 
of the old father of lies, in India and in China ? Have you 
not heard how the Lord, by varied instrumentality, is opening- 
breaches, digging trenches, cutting roads, in order to make a 
way for that kingdom which, with the still small voice, shall 
follow the storm, the earthquake, and the fire that preceded 
it ? The immediate circle by which we are surrounded offers 
us, indeed, far less cause for consolation. It rather seems as 
if everything connected with the kingdom of God were with 
us receding. At least there is much which might tempt us 
to be perplexed with the testimony, " All 'power is given unto 
me!' But if we look into things more closely, we shall not 
fail to discover, even in the chaotic commotion in which we 
live, the heavenly Architect, and shall find, now here, now 
there, the bright traces of His ceaseless energy. And how 
should, it even be possible for Him to leave us, since He once 
for all has unequivocally assured all His people, however few 
their number, "that the little flock should not fear ; for it is 
their Fathers good pleasure to give them the kingdom;" and 
who likewise said and still says, "Zo, I am with you alway, 
even unto the end of the world !" 

How much there is occurring precisely at this time which 
is obviously clearing the way for the triumph of the Lord 
Jesus and His gospel amongst us. How palpably is it de- 



THE APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



209 



monstrated, and that in the most varied modes, that positive 
evangelical Christianity is the sole pillar upon which both 
law and order in society rest ; and most certainly not upon 
negative Christianity and pretended illumination, which are 
already condemned by their fruits. The longer we reflect 
upon it, the clearer is it, that all education which excludes 
the gospel, however it may glitter, is but illusory and hollow, 
and that there is but a step from it to barbarism ; that re- 
volt from Christ, as at present in vogue amongst us, inevi- 
tably involves nothing less than the gradual decay and ruin 
of all true, moral consciousness ; that the nations of the 
earth can only escape the abyss of social and moral ruin by 
following that path which shall restore them to the banner 
of Immanuel ; that he who looses his grasp of revealed 
truth must inevitably fall into that enchanted circle in 
which he can no longer distinguish good from evil ; that he 
who once oversteps the limits of the gospel falls into a 
sphere where nothing is left for him but belief not only in 
blind chance, but likewise in the annihilation of man's 
identity in death, and consequent utter hopelessness and 
despair. These are disclosures for which we are indebted 
to the present day, and which are no longer to be concealed 
from the most obtuse, the most prejudiced, and the most 
malevolent. And shall we, out of consideration for them, be 
precluded from asserting that the Lord has since interfered, 
as He previously did in the beginning of the plan, and that 
He even now is organising in our midst preparations whereby 
to glorify His name afresh ? And consequent upon this con- 
viction, and irrespective of much that is encouraging at this 
juncture as to the Church and theology, does it not seem 
that the midnight gloom of the present time is about to 
be suddenly irradiated, and that in the most auspicious 
manner 1 

But that the Lord, faithful to His promise, really is with 





210 



THE APPEABANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



His own people " daily," you who are His may prove by the 
plainest vouchers drawn from your own personal experiences. 
Tell the unbelieving world, then, of the answers to prayer 
which you have experienced, of the aids and deliverances 
which continually challenge your surprise ; of the comfort 
and peace which the Lord has breathed into your heart in 
times of distress, and of the powers of the world to come, 
with which He then refreshed you. Shew the unwilling 
sceptic how He cheers you with hope, with patience in afflic- 
tion, and that it is your faith which gives you the victory 
over the world. At the same time tell them of your friends, 
who have already shaken off the dust of their pilgrimage, 
and have departed this life not only peacefully, but even 
triumphantly, that it may be known by all, that He not 
only is with His own people, but that He remains with them 
unto the end. Your diary is the best certificate of the truth 
of His great word of promise. Even though the whole 
world around you deny that Christ is risen, and ascended 
into heaven, that " He might fulfil all things," you remain 
firm ; He is your own ; and no critic, no sophist shall be 
able to rob you of Him ; for your " daily experience M is 
your evidence. 

Since, then, the Lord Jesus Christ really is that which He 
has declared Himself to be in the sublime announcement 
upon which we now have meditated, why do we still hesi- 
tate to bow the knee to Him, and to devote body and soul 
to His service ? He has all power to condemn as well as to 
save, to exile to hell as well as to open the portals of bliss. 
But His heart is inclined to bless, and to gladden. Let us 
yield to His gentle yoke, and become Christians indeed, 
whose Christianity is not merely a Sunday dress, or holiday 
suit, but their inmost, deepest life ; something possessed just 
as the continuous silent functions of respiration and circula- 
tion, never belying itself even in the most insignificant 



THE APPEARANCE ON THE MOUNTAIN. 



211 



actions or utterances ; so that the Christian is always a 
Christian whether asleep or awake, in rest or in action, 
whether silent or speaking, and ever diffuses the fragrant 
odour of that Spirit with which he has been inspired from 
on high. Of such as these is the retinue which the King of 
kings wills to have around Him. They live, yet not they, 
but Christ lives in them. May creative grace grant that we 
may all become such Christians ! and to this end, let us 
never cease to repeat the prayer of the sacred lyrist : — 

" Lo ! Thy presence filleth. now 
All Thy church in every place, 
To my heart, oh, enter Thou ; 
See, it thirsteth for thy grace ! 
Come, Thou King of glory, come, 
Deign to make my heart Thy home, 
There abide and rule alone, 
As upon Thy heavenly throne ! 

"Parting, do Thou bring Thy life, 
God, and heaven, most inly near, 
Let me rise o'er earthly strife, 
As though still I saw Thee here ; 
And my heart, transplanted hence, 
Strange to earth and time and sense, 
Dwell with Thee in heaven e'en now, 
Where our only joy art Thou ! " 

Ttrsteegen. — Lyra Germanica. 



212 



THE ASCENSION. 



XVI. 

THE ASCENSION. 

What a glorious festival is that of the ascension of our 
Lord, the crown of all our Church festivals ! Its glory is 
reflected not only from the lives of the apostles, but from 
their whole appearance. How were they transformed by 
the miracle which they witnessed on the Mount of Olives ! 
Henceforth they need nothing, though the earth refuse them 
all it has to offer. They calmly watch, in the flight of years, 
their rapidly-waning life, for they know well the shores to 
which their life's bark is bound. They pass erect through 
the storms and tempests of their pilgrimage ; for, ere long, a 
sun will shine on them which no cloud shall ever dim, and 
which shall never set. They weep as though they wept not ; 
for possibly the morrow may land them where the last tear 
shall be wiped away from their eyes. They possess as 
though they possessed not, for how valueless is all earthly 
good when compared with that which they call their own 
elsewhere ! They go on their course free and cheerful, for 
who can rob them of their riches ? Their souls are now de- 
tached from all that is subject to change. The treasures, 
which they really prize are inaccessible to every earthly foe. 
Their life is safe, for it is concealed and hidden with Christ 
in God. Nothing, nor any one, shall ever separate them 
from their friends again ; for they know that their associa- 
tions are eternal. It is not possible to disturb their peace, 



THE ASCENSION. 



213 



for it no longer rests on a temporal basis. Their feet still 
traverse the valley of death ; but in heart they walk in light 
the fields of immortality. Their bark of life may still rock 
to and fro on the surging waves, but the anchor is already 
cast in the harbour " within the veil." When overshadowed 
by the cloud of death's dark hour, they then only see Elijah's 
chariot, which they also soon will enter. And even the 
funeral bell seems to them merely an harmonious peal sum- 
moning them to a festival held near their much-loved home. 
Happy indeed are they ! But how did they attain so en- 
viable a position 1 Hear the answer to this question in Heb. 
vi. 19, 20, where one of these blest mortals speaks in the 
name of all : " Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, 
both sure and steclfast, and which enter eth into that with- 
in the veil ; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even 
Jesus ." Do you understand ? Their hope is founded on the 
ascension of their Lord and Master. We are now about to 
contemplate this great event attentively. " Put off thy shoes 
from off thy feet ; for the place whereon thou standest is 
holy ground," (Ex. iii 5.) 

Mark xvL 19 ; Luke xxiv. 50 52 ; Acts i. 9-11. 

" And he led them out as far as Bethany ; and after that he had 
spoken with them, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And it came 
to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up 
into heaven, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And he sat on 
the right hand of God. And they worshipped him. And, while they looked 
stedfastly towards heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them 
in white apparel ; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing 
up into heaven ? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, 
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Then 
returned they, with great joy, unto Jerusalem from the mount called 
Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a sabbath-day's journey." 

These are the circumstances under which we stand with 
reference to the great event which has burst open the prison, 
secluded within which we were shut up to the beggarly scenes 



214 



THE ASCENSION. 



of time, and which has transformed the gloomy gate of death 
into a sunny and radiantly-illumined porch of glory. By it 
we who had been exiled from the Father's house are recalled 
home. 

Let this heart- elevating point of view be that from which 
we may more closely examine it. We see, in the first place, 
how our Lord in His ascension points to us the road to the 
far-off heavenly world; and then how He, anticipating our 
arrival there, has taken possession of it for us. 

May He himself be near, and prepare the way for the re- 
ception into our heart of the most gladdening of all truths, 
the truth of the ascension ! 

I. The delightful period of the forty days is past. The 
eleven, at their Master's command, have returned from 
Galilee to Judea. We find them on the Mount of Olives, 
the spot which their Master had appointed for them to meet 
Him. Let us join them. Here a spectacle is about to be 
presented to us which promises unbounded satisfaction to 
one of our soul's most pressing wants. What will then be 
disclosed to us here? That land, my friends, about which 
we are ever ready to seek information. We desire first to 
learn the direction in which to look for it, and then, as much 
of its nature and constitution as we are able to comprehend 
while here on earth ; and we desire, moreover, to be abun- 
dantly provided with all that may aid us to complete our 
pilgrimage, "rejoicing in hope." With the heart touched 
by Christ, the heavenly magnet, there is no longer any true 
repose for us here on earth. We are from that moment 
impelled by a holy longing, which, ceasing from all that is 
sublunary and imperfect, presses forward to the perfect, and 
by it we are stimulated to cast anchor in a haven situate on 
other shores, irradiated by another sun than that of earth. 
We pilgrims and sojourners have indeed known hours of 
heavenly transport like those experienced on Tabor, in which 



THE ASCENSION. 



215 



we might have exclaimed with Peter, " It is good for us to 
be here ; let us here erect tabernacles ! " These, however, 
are but hours ; whilst we long for eternities. Yes, whilst 
here on earth, we may be esteemed happy, as those who are 
nursed in the lap of divine grace ; but it is by faith alone 
that we here come to the knowledge that we are so securely 
sheltered. But we pant for sight. The consciousness that 
through Christ our sins have lost their damning power is to 
us a subject of intense delight. But sin itself cleaves to us, 
and impedes us whilst we would so fain live entirely to the 
Lord and to His glory. Much that is delightful is indeed 
offered to us here, in communion with the brethren, and in 
the fellowship of saints. But ah ! there are hours of sepa- 
ration, and tears at parting, and, besides these, many mis- 
understandings here below, and the accursed strife of those 
who are agreed in matters of faith, but who fight for opinions, 
or even for mere matters of form ! We pine for intercourse 
with the "just made perfect" in that light which neither 
sin, death, nor Satan shall be able to dim with their blended 
shadows. Yes, there is a something alive within us which, 
at one time with silent yearning, at another with passionate 
eagerness, seeks a land where the Lord no longer dwells in 
darkness — where the alternation of day and night has given 
place to a cheerful and eternal spring-like morning — where 
no grave-mound ever again shall indicate the melancholy 
termination of our happiest associations, nay, of all our joy 
in life, — where, on the contrary, the hand of eternal Love 
shall wipe the last sweat of conflict and tribulation from our 
brow, and shall dry the last tear from our eyes. Such is the 
land we seek and long for. Does it really exist ? Where 
are we to look for it ? Shall we ever reach it ? And when, 
oh ! when shall we anchor there ? 

You are not ignorant of the kindly manner in which our 
Lord entertained this earnest question of our heart. We 



216 



THE ASCENSION. 



have His assurance that the land really exists. He has told 
ns of that paternal home which is beyond this sphere, and 
which comprises many mansions. And He has consoled us 
with the prospect of a future blissful occupation of them. 
But the general intimation, that a home such as we desire is 
there awaiting us, is inadequate for us poor mortals. We 
long for more distinct views, for clearer and more definite 
conceptions of this future world. Fain, whilst in the body, 
would we in spirit settle there ! Nothing but a thoroughly 
intelligible idea of that other country would meet our wishes. 
We long to gaze into it, and to be definitely informed not 
only in which direction the land lies, but likewise, especially, 
whether we are justified in thinking of life there as real and 
personal, and not as a mere absorption into an ocean of 
spiritual existence — as shadowy life without reminiscence or 
recognition, or without even self-consciousness. All these 
secret wishes of our heart are fully satisfied on the Mount of 
Olives, and this is the chief reason why we, with exultant 
hallelujahs, should welcome the Feast of the Ascension as 
a joyous festival of the first and highest importance. 

Our risen Saviour has just met the circle of the eleven 
with His wonted greeting, " Peace be with you !" Even now, 
yonder He stands on the scene of His conflicts, of His tears. 
Bat the former are now terminated in most glorious victory, 
and the latter are for ever dried up. He has ere He leaves 
them still many important suggestions both of consolation 
and instruction for His disciples. He repeats His command, 
to remain together in Jerusalem awaiting the outpouring of 
the Holy Ghost according to the promise of the Father. At 
the same time He renews the great commission in compliance 
with which they are to go out into all the world, and, by 
teaching the nations, to gain them over to His banner, and 
by baptizing to incorporate them into His kingdom. After 
He has thus once more solemnly and finally declared to them 



THE ASCENSION. 



217 



His last injunction, what occurs there ? Like a High Priest, 
He spreads His hands over His chosen ones to bless them ; 
and in this significant posture, all heavenly favour and grace 
beaming in His glorified countenance, He rises visibly before 
the eyes of His disciples, who are overwhelmed with adoring 
wonder, seeing Him soar from earth and advance with silent^ 
noiseless majesty towards heaven. He is not carried up, as 
once Elijah was, in a chariot of fire ; He is not, like Lazarus, 
borne up by angels' hands. As it became the dignity of the 
Son of God, He ascends by His own unassisted power. In 
adoring silence the disciples watch Him in His flight. They 
hardly know if they dare trust their eyes. They indeed knew 
before of another world, the dwelling of the blest ; but its 
existence had never previously been brought home to them 
so closely, so really, so palpably, and so sublimely, as at this 
moment, when they see their Master bodily ascending thither. 
Never until now had the other world assumed to them a 
material form and a definite shape. And how fresh, how 
blooming and vigorous is the hope which now wakes up 
within them, how wonderfully near does that in an instant 
appear which had hitherto loomed but dimly and obscurely 
in the distance. It is almost to them as if they too were 
on their way to heaven, in attendance on their soaring 
Lord. And shall we not feel the same, when we see the Son 
of Man and Mediator ascend on high ? Will not that be the 
first moment to us, likewise, in which the great fact of the 
other world will be personally realised ? We are now con- 
vinced that heaven is a habitable and inhabited sphere, ex- 
isting not only in the mirror of imagination, but also within 
the compass of realities, — no hazy region dissolving like a 
phantom into nothing at the approach of day, but a real 
territory which has its boundaries, and to which we journey 
just as we travel to any country of our own globe. The 
ascension of Christ shews us the direction in which we are to 



218 



THE ASCEN ION. 



seek that heavenly Canaan. It lies on the other side of yon 
azure sky, beyond that which we are wont to term the firma- 
ment, and the stars above us are but the outposts of the 
blessed land, if not indeed the stations on our homeward 
way. It is, therefore, not without reason that when praying 
we raise our eyes upwards — not without truth that in silent 
nights of sorrow we gaze upwards to the stars with ardent 
longings and intense desire as to the lights of our Father's 
home. Nay ; the land of the blest presents itself in such 
reality, that had we wings to bear us as far as our soul's 
longings stretch, even we should also, like our Lord, wing 
our flight to it beyond the stars, leaving the dust of earth 
behind. You will say these representations of the other 
world are bold and daring ; but we poor mortals need pre- 
cisely such, successfully to combat the terrors of death, which 
likewise are by no means imaginary, but intensely real. And 
the visible ascension of Christ really proffers them to us. 
With thankful joy we appropriate them, and willingly leave 
spiritualism to others who, affecting a false superiority, sub- 
tilise and volatilise the heavenly world to such a degree that 
nothing remains of it but easily-dispersed mist and vapour. 

"But are we, then, to accept the so-called ascension of 
Christ as an historical event ?" Can you still doubt it ? I 
do not indeed deny that there is a strong temptation to 
doubt. Without much effort, however, we can here come to 
the aid of wavering faith. Consider, in the first place, that 
the narrative is either historically related, by all the evange- 
lists and apostles who were themselves eye-witnesses of the 
sublime event, or had heard it reported from the lips of 
credible and corroborated witnesses, or (as in the case of the 
apostle Paul) specially confirmed ; or it is treated as being 
publicly known and acknowledged, and as such, raised above 
all contradiction. In the second place, do not omit to notice 
that the ascension of our Lord, no less than His resurrection 



THE ASCENSION. 



219 



from the dead, had been repeatedly and most unequivocally 
foretold and prophesied by Himself, and for ages previously 
by the old prophets ; a circumstance which must conduce to 
bring the matter home to your belief. Eeflect farther, that 
the ascension of Christ ensues just as necessarily and natu- 
rally as the development of the flower when plant, stalk, 
leaf, and bud, are already in existence. Look at the con- 
nexion of His whole career, how He was sent down from 
His Father, in order, as God-man, to fulfil His work of 
mediation and redemption ; how He, obeying, suffering, 
bleeding, and dying, really did fulfil it ; thus perfectly dis- 
charging the commission intrusted to Him, and then judge 
for yourselves, whether it may not be confidently expected 
that the holy, righteous Father in heaven would set His seal 
to that felicitously-finished work of His only-begotten Son, 
not only by raising Him again from the dead, but by causing 
Him also to return in visible triumph to heaven, whence He 
had descended to us. One step in the life of Jesus de- 
manded and required the next. Without the ascension His 
life were a torso, a fragment, an inexplicable enigma. Take 
this, moreover, into consideration that, with the sole exception 
of John, who would have been ready with joy to do the like, 
all the apostles willingly sealed their belief in the resurrec- 
tion and ascension of Christ with their blood. How could 
these clear-witted, discreet, and intelligent men have re- 
solved upon this, if they had not been as certain of both 
these facts as of their own existence ? Besides, consider that 
the resurrection of Christ absolutely obliges us to accept 
His ascension also. For where could the risen Saviour have 
remained if He had not returned to His Father ? He must 
necessarily have tarried somewhere on earth in His glorified 
body ; or, what is still more inconceivable and contradictory, 
have died a second time under circumstances that precluded 
any eye from witnessing it. But, finally, fix your attention 



220 



THE ASCENSION, 



upon that which, as being of permanent importance, im- 
peratively challenges it, the authoritative seal of historical 
truth which He affixed Himself, in the presence of the whole 
world, upon the fact of His ascension, by the outpouring, on 
the tenth day after His return to heaven, of the promised 
Holy Ghost. If anything be fitted to remove our last doubt, 
it is the day of Pentecost. 

But look, once more, at the order of the historical incidents 
in connexion with His ascension, as related in the narratives 
of the evangelists. Can you mistake the strong impress of 
truth with which it is stamped ? The Lord rises from the 
scene of His deepest humiliation to the throne of glory. 
The crown of honour was presented to Him by His Father on 
that very site where, like a worm lying in the dust, He had, 
for the propitiation of our sins, drunk the cup of His most 
bitter sufferings, even to the very dregs — practical evidence 
that He actually received it as the well-merited reward of His 
finished work of mediation. What are the incidents which 
transpired at the ascension ? Had it been fiction, we should 
doubtless have seen it clothed in the form of a sentimental 
parting scene. But we do not find even the slightest trace of 
this. Our Lord does not speak like one who is taking his last 
farewell ; but, on the contrary, in a tone corresponding with 
His exalted position, as one who will henceforth, for the first 
time, really be with His disciples, and will manifest His 
power on earth. Line by line, all that is reported to us is 
so thoroughly simple, and in its very simplicity so sublime, 
so entirely in unison with the deep meaning of His return 
to heaven, so in accordance with the nature and character of 
the departing Saviour, that it is absolutely inconceivable that 
any other pen than that of the most objective truth, should 
have inscribed this narrative. With dignified composure, as 
the Conqueror of all opposing powers, and as perfectly cer- 
tain of the triumphant future of His cause, He spreads 



THE ASCENSION. 



221 



out His hands to bless His disciples, and rises beiore their 
eyes until a cloud receives Him out of their sight. The aim 
of His visible return was attained precisely at that moment. 
The disciples knew where their Master abode, and therefore 
the curtain which had been raised might again drop to every 
mortal eye. But is not the assumption that we should be 
expected to believe so extraordinary a miracle extravagant ? 
The miracle is not greater than the whole life of the Son of 
God. The deliverance of the fallen world could only be 
achieved by means of a chain of miracles. "But," say you, 
"in accepting Christ's ascension as a fact, is there not an in- 
terruption of continuity in the laws of nature ? " What laws 
do you mean? You are probably thinking of the law of 
gravitation; then of the immeasurable distance of those 
stars which mortal eyes can reach ; and after that of the 
nature of ether in which no human being is able to breathe- 
But permit me to suggest that the world of glorified creation 
has its own peculiar laws, which are indubitably essentially 
different from those which govern the material world, to 
which we still belong ; and do not overlook the fact that 
our measures of space and time, our ideas of the possible 
and impossible, cease to be applicable there. There is no 
doubt but that, beyond that cloud, which received our Lord 
out of His disciples' sight, the ascension was continued with 
far greater rapidity than during those moments when the 
disciples were still permitted to behold it. How swiftly 
does a ray of light, or flash of lightning, though belonging 
to the things of this world, traverse the greatest distances \ 
Might not a glorified body, like that of our risen Saviour, 
fly on the wings of thought ? and do not many of our Lord's 
manifestations during the forty clays greatly favour such an 
assumption ? But to the inquiry, whether a creature is still 
capable of breathing in air excessively rarified or dense, we 
answer, that everything depends on its organisation. Does 



222 



THE ASCENSION. 



net the fish breathe in deep waters, where a thousand other 
beings would immediately die ? and does not the lark chant 
forth her song in spheres where our blood-vessels would 
instantly burst ? The restrictions, conditions, and limits to 
which earthly creatures are subject do not influence spirits ; 
and we who are immured in the earthly and material, can 
form no sort of conception of the nature of a spiritualised 
body. Consequently, all objections to the ascension based 
upon the laws of nature are without weight. We shall one 
day behold a sphere of creation of whose organisation we 
had not the slightest idea while here on earth. 

II. The fact of the ascension is, then, historically sure. But 
what happened beyond tiie cloud which concealed the risen 
Saviour from mortal eyes ? This has not remained entirely 
shrouded in mystery. In other passages of Holy Scripture, 
and more especially in the Revelation of the apostle John, the 
veil has been raised. We there see far beyond that cloud ; 
and, oh, what glory beams upon us there ! We behold the 
sinning hosts of angels hastening to meet the approaching 
King with loud exultant songs of homage, and the old word 
of prophecy is verified, " God is gone up with a shout, the 
Lord with the sound of a trumpet/' We see the companies 
of the just made perfect, whom no man can number, at the 
gates of the Holy City fall down and worship the glorified 
Mediator, and we hear them shout their hallelujahs to Him 
from the inmost depths of their grateful hearts. And He, 
with gracious salutations passing through their midst, ap- 
proaches the throne of the everlasting Father. And in the 
hand of the latter, the "Ancient of Days," is seen a book 
written within and without, and sealed with seven seals. 
And a strong angel approaches, proclaiming with a loud 
voice, " AVho is worthy to open the book, [it is the book of 
God's decrees,] and to loose the seals thereof ? " And no 
being equal to the task is found, either in heaven or on 



TEE ASCENSION. 



223 



earth. And one of the four and twenty elders standing 
around the throne takes up the word, and says, " Behold, the 
Lion of the tribe of Juclah, the root of David, hath prevailed 
to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof/' And 
the everlasting Son, the veritable High Priest, approaches, 
and takes the scroll out of the right hand of Him that sits 
upon the throne. Then the elders, with their harps and 
golden vials full of odours, fall down worshipping before 
Him who is both Priest and Lamb in one, and they sing the 
new song, " Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open 
the seals thereof ; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us 
to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
people, and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings 
and priests ; and we shall reign on the earth." And a chorus 
of many thousand angel voices with triumphant joy confirm 
the same, saying, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and 
honour, and glory, and blessing." And, like a rushing of 
many waters, the loud " Amen " resounds throughout the 
Holy City. And behold, He who was like unto a son of 
man takes possession of the seat of honour prepared for 
Him at the right hand of the Father, on the throne of uni- 
versal dominion, opens the seals of the wondrous book, and 
" the pleasure of the Lord prospers in his hand/' Here, 
then, some of those things which transpired beyond the 
cloud are disclosed to your view. It is, indeed, disclosed to 
us in typical representation ; but that which is thus ren- 
dered intelligible to our poor human comprehension, is 
nevertheless real and actual. In this exaltation of Him 
who was fairer than the children of men, we rejoice, in the 
first place, on His own account; but do not forget in how 
exceedingly joyous a sense we also share in this His triumph. 
In Him who is thus so highly exalted, we are to see, not 
merely the Son of God, but likewise the second Adam, our 



224* 



THE ASCENSION. 



Advocate, Surety, and Representative. On the day of His 
ascension, He took possession of heaven, not only for Him- 
self, but also for us. Remember the mysterious relation in 
which He had entered with us, and the wonderful exchange 
which He had made with us. By imputation, He assumed 
our guilt as well as our obligations. Having done so, heaven 
was, by His own admission, closed even against Himself 
whilst in this state of humiliation. The cherub stationed at 
the gate of paradise refused even Him admittance, for he saw 
that His entrance into it was likewise coupled with the in- 
dispensable condition that He, in our stead, should, under a 
thousand severe trials, yield perfect satisfaction to the in- 
flexible law, and at the same time should suffer and die to 
expiate those sins on account of which the curse of the law 
rested on humanity. He had accomplished both when, on 
the cross, bowing His head in death, He uttered the trium- 
phal exclamation, " It is finished !" Every barrier was now 
removed, and the gate of the Holy City was once more open 
before Him. He entered into heaven, not merely, however, 
as the only-begotten Son of the Father, but as the man who 
had become a Surety, and who had paid all that was due. 
Since the obligations which He fulfilled were ours, the right 
of entrance into the world of glory awarded Him was like- 
wise so to us. He took possession of heaven for us, — that is, 
for as many of us as are become one with Him, and for us 
He ever holds it, constantly interceding for us before the 
Father with His own righteousness. 

" But by what road may we hope to enter into this hea- 
venly Jerusalem ? " This no longer need excite our solici- 
tude. It lies indeed through the dark valley of death ; and 
though without human attendant, it is not solitary, neither 
are we left alone. You already know what a prospect the 
Lord revealed to His disciples in His farewell address to 
them. After the assurance that He was going to prepare 



THE ASCENSION. 



225 



mansions for them, He said: "And if I go, I will come 
again and receive you unto myself; that ivhere I am, there 
ye may he also." And what happened to the disciples on the 
Mount of Olives, whilst, with adoring astonishment, they gazed 
after their ascending Master? "Behold" the narrative in- 
forms us, " two men stood by them in white apparel, [shin- 
ing angels,] which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand 
ye gazing up into heaven 1 this same J esus, which is taken 
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as 
ye have seen him go into heaven." These words referred, 
indeed, first of all to a remote future, and announced that 
the Prince of Peace should one day visibly return to consum- 
mate His kingdom upon earth. But nevertheless the disciples 
were justified in accepting it as a promise for their last hour, 
as though our Lord had addressed them, as would a mother, 
when starting on a journey, saying to her little ones who 
sorrowfully look on, " Be happy ! I am not going away for 
ever ; I am coining back, and shall see you again very soon/' 
And, doubtless, He will appear at the very time when the 
anxiety of our hearts shall be the most intense ; and then, 
although unseen, in a manner never before experienced, shall 
we realise His presence and help. It may be that at the very 
entrance of the harbour a storm shall try our faith. But 
even if a great struggle should take place at the separation 
of body and soul, still, how is it possible that we should not 
come off easy victors, if in the last conflict we hear His greet- 
ings, and recognise His hand as that which soothes our last 
suffering. And were that hour arrived when our weeping 
friends, standing around our bed, shall whisper to each other, 
"He has breathed his last — he has ceased to struggle :" then 
we too shall have commenced that journey, which we here 
have seen undertaken by our great Forerunner and Pioneer. 
And when our earthly tabernacle is consigned to its last 
resting-place, — a " seed sown of God to ripen unto the day of 

p 



220 



THE ASCENSION. 



the harvest/' — then shall we already have entered the golden 
streets of the eternal heavenly city, led by the hand of our 
Eedeeiner. And that which surrounds us there is not some 
strange and unknown world, in which we feel like lost and 
deseri cd children ; but our arrival there will be as our return 
home from travel to meet again father and mother, brothers 
and sisters. Just as, at our birth into this world, we found 
the place in every respect prepared for us, — the little cradle 
ready standing there, shelter, food, and clothing all provided, 
while father and mother welcomed us most cordially, — in like 
manner shall we find everything in the heavenly world in a 
state most perfectly prepared for us. We have long been 
known there, we have long been called by our name, and 
expected with joy. And we may believe that we shall feel 
infinitely more at home in the beautiful world, free from 
night and sin, than we ever were whilst on this earth ; and 
there will be inscribed upon every joy which we there ex- 
perience, and on every association in which we feel our 
happiness involved, the one precious word — the word eter- 
nal. There will be no more occasion to complain, " This it is 
that pains me, that it is that vexes me, that I cannot suffi- 
ciently love Thee ; " but our heart will overflow with fervour, 
and we shall never want breath to unite with our fellows in 
glory and happiness, in singing to our full heart's desire the 
great hallelujah in His praise, who has loved us so far beyond 
all expression, and who has so exalted us. 

Such, then, brethren, are our prospects for the future. 
But whilst I call them ours, I can of course only think of 
those amongst us who really belong to the company of be- 
lievers. You others are going another way. But can you 
wish to tarry longer on that road ? Are our paths really hence- 
forth and for ever to be divergent ? God forbid it ! Come 
and travel with us. If the path which you traverse with us 
be rugged and steep, it is, nevertheless, lovely, and winds 



THE ASCENSION. 



227 



along under the rustling palm-trees of hope. Gather with 
us around the banner of the cross, render with us homage 
to the glorified Prince of Peace, and unite with us in the old 
joyous, and hopeful song of our pilgrimage — 

" A pilgrim here I wander, 

On earth have no abode; 
My fatherland is yonder, 

My home is with my God. 
For here I journey to and fro — 

There in eternal rest 
Will God His gracious gift bestow 

On all the toil-oppress'd." 

Lyra Qermanica. 



228 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



XVII. 

THE TIME OE WAITING. 

"The hope of the righteous shall be gladness," says Solomon 
in Proverbs x. 28. A consolatory passage indeed, if we but 
rightly interpret the designation " righteous." We are not 
to understand by this, righteous according to law ; for where 
would such be found among the children of Adam but in 
those who have been justified by grace, who, although still 
sinners in the eye of the law, nevertheless have with their 
whole heart yielded themselves up to God the Lord, and have 
seriously determined to live and die for Him ? Such as these 
are, for Christ's sake, considered blameless in the sight of 
God. But these, however confidently they may repose in the 
love of God, nevertheless still have to bide their time. All 
that which they long and pray for does not immediately 
fall into their lap. How long had an Abraham, in all the 
fulness of divine promises which had been vouchsafed him, 
to exercise his patience before even one of them was fulfilled ! 
How many sighs and tears were offered by Hannah, Samuel's 
pious mother, before her heart's wish was granted ! Think, 
further, of the author of the thirteenth Psalm, the "man after 
God's own heart," and remember how often he prayerfully 
sighed, " How long wilt Thou forget me, Lord, for ever ? 
how long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?" as likewise of 
Paul, that <; chosen vessel," and of his constantly-recurring 
petition, apparently unheard so long by the Lord, that he 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



229 



might be relieved from the thorn in his flesh, and from the 
messenger of Satan, who had been sent to buffet him. But 
none of these cast away their confidence, but waited and 
waited on, though often with anxiety and discouragement. 
But the Lord will never put even the weakest faith to shame. 
The hope of those saints issued in gladness. 

Yes, and so it will ever be. By expectant hope we honour 
the Lord, we glorify His name before men, we practise hu- 
mility, that cardinal virtue of the true Christian, and uncon- 
sciously attune the harp-strings of our souls to a still more 
fully intoned hallelujah against that time when that which 
we believe, and faithfully persevere in believing, shall cer- 
tainly come to pass. We shall realise that proverb of Solo- 
mon, "The hope of the righteous shall be gladness," and 
likewise the well-known declaration of the Psalmist, " They 
looked unto him, and were lightened ; and their faces were 
not ashamed/' (Psalm xxxiv. 5.) 

We are about to enter a circle of praying and expectant 
believers, who will be able, though such is not always the 
case, within a few clays to confirm and indorse from their 
own experience the saying of Solomon. Let us in spirit 
join these beloved brethren, and may the Lord graciously 
tune our hearts in harmony with theirs ! 

Acts i. 12-26. 

" Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, 
which is from Jerusalem a sabbath-day's journey. And when they were 
come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and 
James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and 
Matthew, James the son of Alphseus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the 
brother of James. These all continued with one accord in prayer and sup- 
plication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his 
brethren. And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, 
and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and 
twenty,) Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, 
which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning 
Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus. For he was numbered 



230 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. Now this man purchased 
a field with the reward of iniquity ; and falling headlong, he burst asunder 
in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. And it was known unto all 
the dwellers at Jerusalem ; insomuch as that field is called in their pro- 
per tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For it is writ- 
ten in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man 
dwell therein : and his bishoprick let another take. Wherefore of these 
men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went 
in and out amongst its, beginning from the baptism of John, unto that 
same day that he was taken up from \is, must one be ordained to be a wit- 
ness with us of his resurrection. And they appointed two. Joseph called 
Barsabas, who was suruamed Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed, and 
said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of 
these two thou hast chosen, that he may take part of this ministry and 
apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to 
his own place. And they gave forth their lots : and the lot fell upon 
Matthias ; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles." 

The Sunday (Exaudi*) which intervenes between the 
Day of Ascension and Whitsuntide has, and not without some 
truth, been called the " orphan child " among the Sundays of 
the ecclesiastical year. The Lord has ascended into heaven, 
and His manifestation on the day of Pentecost is still to 
come. This Sunday stands thus isolated between the two 
festivals-; the orphan child, however, bears a precious trea- 
sure in its little casket, — the promise, " I will pour out of my 
Spirit upon all flesh/' — and says, prayerfully and hopefully, 
Exaudil — i.e., "Hear my prayer." In days of yore, this 
Exaudi formed the key-note in the hearts of the believers 
during the intervening time. We feel powerfully attracted 
to them. It is edifying, consolatory, and instructive to 
linger in their midst. Well, let us in spirit join their com- 
pany, and consider, in the first place, the state of soul of the 
disciples at this juncture ; then, the address of one of their 
number ; and, lastly, the act which they perform : and let 
us gratefully accept, as from the Lord, all spiritual profit 



* Psalm cxliii. 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



231 



and blessing which may be vouchsafed to us whilst medi- 
tating upon this apparently destitute Sunday ! 

I. The disciples, in returning from Mount Olivet to Jeru- 
salem, did as our Lord before His ascension had commanded 
them. We here find them in one of those upper chambers 
of those buildings which surrounded the temple, and which 
were daily open to all those who wished to retire for prayer 
or pious conversation. And what an assembly it was ! As 
far as outward appearance and splendour are concerned, it 
was poor. Were all the kings and emperors, all the men of 
science and learning, all the poets and artists in the world, 
to be gathered together in congress, they would never form 
an assembly so important, so pregnant with reference to the 
future, and so rich in promise for the progress of the world, 
as that assembled there. Therefore, let no one ever judge 
from mere appearances ; and specially, be on your guard 
against being imposed upon by what are styled majorities. 
The company assembled in the porch of the temple numbered 
but a hundred and twenty souls ; but to whom was the 
future of the world committed ? To this handful of insigni- 
ficant Galileans, divested of all external respectability ? or to 
the millions in Judea and Jerusalem who looked down upon 
them with a scornfully-affected superiority ? Were not the 
former right in every respect? and did not the surging, 
raging multitude, however proudly it might raise its head, 
go entirely astray, bound with the fetters of delusion and 
blindness ? In society, uniform opinion and similar modes 
of expression constitute what we are wont to designate " the 
prevailing tendencies of the times,'' or "public opinion and 
how frequently are these checked and brought back to the 
point from which they started by the sentiments, boldly 
stated and firmly maintained, of one resolute public man ! 
For it then happens that, for a time, this one man will, as a 
spiritual despot, rule over hosts of his contemporaries, who 



232 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



then appear in the miserable and despicable character of his 
servile copyists and train-bearers. I say, however, emphati- 
cally, for a time. In the last century only, how many 
philosophical and political doctrines and systems, streams 
issuing from the fountain-head of error and deception, have 
for a time inundated the whole world, and then subsided ! 
And doubt not, that the muddy torrent which overspreads 
the world at present under the ostentatious name of " ad- 
vanced science and culture/' will also, in its time, pass away. 
The gospel, however, remains, and emerges entire and unin- 
jured from every whirlpool which threatened to ingulf it. 
Why ? Because it has an incorruptible advocate in con- 
science, seated in the human breast, from which it cannot be 
dislodged, and which perpetually proves itself to be, to every 
one inclined to trust it, a " power of God/' calculated not 
only to bless, but to sanctify. Therefore, as to the gospel, 
there is no cause of apprehension. It is true that believers 
are now in the minority. But what matters that ? In which 
camp does the Lord abide ? We have His promise, " Where 
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I 
in the midst of them," (Matt, xviii. 20 ;) and again and again 
has He stamped the impress of His seal upon this His 
promise, by its fulfilment in the experience of thousands. 

Amongst the hundred and twenty who were assembled at 
Jerusalem, the sacred narrative specially mentions the women 
— those who had never left their Lord and Master, not even 
at His cross and grave, and whose heroic love put the men 
to utter shame. The Holy Ghost here erects a new tablet 
of honour to these faithful ones, in order that their faith and 
constancy may be spoken of even to the end of time. Their 
names are written in the book of life as well as on these 
sacred pages. Adorned with the heavenly crown, they have 
long surrounded the throne of God. Oh ! my sisters, to 
whom I now more specially address myself, come and asso- 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



233 



ciate yourselves with these disciples as companions in their 
faith ! You can attain to no higher honour here on earth 
than to belong to their choir. In the apostolic narrative, 
Mary, the mother of our Lord, is again specially mentioned 
among the women. Looking upon this quiet circle, the eye 
fastens upon her ; no longer, however, as the broken-hearted 
one whom we saw standing at the foot of the cross ; for, 
since His resurrection and ascension, her soul, which had 
previously been pierced as with a sword, was now for ever 
healed, and her mourning for the son of her body converted 
into exultant joy in Him as her Mediator and Saviour. For 
there is no doubt but that she knew herself to be a poor 
sinner in God's sight, even as others. Therefore she is not 
in this assembly engaged as an intercessor for them ; but, on 
the contrary, prostrating herself in the dust together with 
them, she implored intercession with the Father of the only 
and everlasting High Priest, who had been raised to the right 
hand of the Majesty on high, in common with them all. It 
appears that, soon after the day of Pentecost, she entered the 
Jerusalem above. What a spectacle must this meeting have 
been to the denizens of heaven ! 

The eleven, with whom, as His most intimate friends, our 
Lord was wont to be surrounded, were the choicest part and 
centre of this assembly at Jerusalem. Who shall describe 
the feelings of these men ? What prayerful desires, blissful 
hopes, and great expectations gushed like a torrent through 
their minds ! We here find them already freed from much 
error and misapprehension, to which they previously had 
been subject. By their Master's death, resurrection, and 
ascension, their conception of the constitution of God's king- 
] upon earth had undergone a thorough purification, 
apprehensions of their Lord's person had, through the 
of these events, almost ceased to be clouded. Since 
re invested with the apostolic office had it im- 



234 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



posed on them, as a duty paramount to every other, to publish 
the fact that the work of atonement had been wrought out, 
they needed an increase of light and elevation to render 
definite the vague perceptions of it which had up to this 
period filled their minds. They needed also to be thoroughly 
enlightened as to the meaning of Christ's having disabled 
Satan, and His having taken away the sting of death ; as also 
of His mediation between a sinful world and a holy God. 
And how greatly did they need to be endowed with courage, 
with power from on high, and with a plenitude of other gifts, 
in order that they might really be strong enough to become 
pillars of the new kingdom of peace on earth ! Their hearts 
were like a well-tilled field, but in which the crop was 
languishing for want of rain and sunshine. Though on 
former occasions they had not always received the intimation 
of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon them with due 
interest, how deeply did they feel its importance now, and 
long for the moment of its fulfilment ! Their whole soul 
was prayer, and they irresistibly brought their fellow-believers 
to entertain the same views. We find them daily assembled 
in that quiet apartment of the temple, where they " con- 
tinued," as the narrative relates, " with one accord in prayer 
and supplication." sublime assembly, soaring on eagle's 
wings above the heights of earth ! We see in it the seed of 
a new nature implanted by God, and feel that, since what 
their souls pant for relates solely to the imperishable and 
eternal, their desire cannot fail to be realised. 

II. Thus whilst the little flock awaited with the greatest 
anxiety that which was about to happen, it came to pass one 
day that while they were again met for prayer, suddenly one 
amongst them arose to submit an important proposition to 
his brethren. It was Simon Peter. Deeply affected, he first 
reminded them of the tragic end of their fellow- apostle J La 
The last thing that would have occurred to the discipL * 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



235 



whose eyelids a tear trembled at his own denial, would have 
been to make mention of that wretched man, if it had not 
been opportune for him to found the proposition which be 
was about to make to his brethren on a text of Scripture. 
" According to Scripture," he begins, and probably is think- 
ing especially of the words in Psalm xli. 9, " He who did eat 
of my bread hath lifted up his heel against me," which the 
Lord himself had expressly applied to the traitor, — " Judas 
became a guide to them that took Jesus ; for he was num- 
bered with us, and had obtained a part of this ministry. 
Now this man," continues Peter, "purchased* a field with 
the reward of iniquity, [i.e., it was owing to him that a field 
was bought with the price of blood, that for which he 
betrayed his Lord, in which his body was buried after his 
death ;] and falling headlong, [when the cord with which 
he had hung himself broke, and the branch of the tree, as 
though with horror and aversion, shook off its accursed 
fruit,] he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels 
gushed out." We learn from these words that the field in 
which he had been interred was the same spot where this 
miserable man committed suicide, and which he, falling 
headlong, had covered with his body, and had literally seized 
and taken possession of as an inheritance. He had preferred 
the earthly to the heaveuly ; and, now lie possessed it ; a dread- 
ful irony of Divine justice was involved in this gloomy fate. 
Peter continues — " And it was known unto all the dwellers 
at Jerusalem, insomuch as that field is called in their proper 
tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood," (in re- 
membrance of the bloody end of the traitor, and of the in- 
nocent blood which he had betrayed.) This field, however, 
was situate in the valley of Hinnom, — which was never men- 
tioned by the Jews but with horror, — in which in former days 
children had been sacrificed to Moloch, and which was re- 
garded as laden with the curse of the Almighty. Peter in 



236 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



his speecli then refers to Psalm lxix., where David, as the Old 
Testament type of the Messiah, curses his enemies, and 
especially adduces, (ver. 25,) " Let their habitation be deso- 
late, and let none dwell in their tents." He applies these 
words to the dreadful desolation and waste of the field in 
which Judas was interred, and then quotes Psalm cix. 8, 
which contains the same meaning, expressed in the words, 
"His bishoprick [i.e., the office which had been intrusted 
to him whom God had now T rejected] let another take." 
By this text he specially establishes the necessity that the 
apostolic charge of Judas should be transferred to another. 
You have here again the opportunity to observe what the 
sacred writings of the Old Testament were to the apostles. 
They recognised no difference between the Scriptures and 
the Word of God in Scripture. The whole Scripture was 
God's word to them, and they rested on their Master's as- 
sertion, "The Scripture cannot be broken." Let persons but 
continue, as they are wont now-a-days publicly, to declaim 
that the Scriptures are not God's Word, but that it must be 
submitted to the judgment of reason what portion shall be 
held to be divine and what to be human ; the common man 
will then but too quickly, and others with him likewise, logi- 
cally deem that God's word in Scripture is restricted to that 
which man shall be pleased to admit as such. If the authority 
of the Bible in the world be thus continuously undermined, 
you will in a short time see human society, with all its regu- 
lations and institutions, shattered in such a manner as will 
make many a man's hair stand on end. 

After Peter had thus adequately supported and based his 
proposition on Scripture, he addressed them as follows : — 
" Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all 
the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 
beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that 
he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



237 



ivitness with us of his resurrection." Mark well these words. 
Ocular and auricular testimony of our Lord's entire public 
life, up to the time of its glorious issue, is here set forth as 
the first and most indispensable condition associated, with 
induction into the apostolic charge. Hence you may see on 
how firm and sure a foundation this belief rests. Among 
the apostles whose writings have been handed down to us, 
Matthew, John, Peter, and James fully met this claim ; and 
Paul likewise had, to say the least of it, with his bodily eyes, 
seen Christ after His resurrection and exaltation, At the 
same time, observe what a high importance the apostles 
attach to our Lord's resurrection, and to the historical credi- 
bility of this miracle. And this they were fully warranted 
in doing. Upon this one event, if truly established as a fact, 
everything must of necessity be shattered, which ever has 
been, or ever shall be, adduced against Christianity. Do not 
doubt, our Church stands on a rock, and the gates of hell, as 
they have not prevailed, so likewise they never shall prevail 
throughout eternity, against it. 

III. Peter's proposition carried conviction to the minds of 
those who were assembled at Jerusalem ; and so much the 
more, since, in accordance with the express command of our 
Lord, the apostles were to aim, in the first place, at the con- 
version of Israel, and, following the old chiefs of the twelve 
tribes as types, were to form the twelve patriarchs of the 
new and spiritual Israel. It was therefore necessary that 
their number of tiuelue should be complete. Paul, also, was 
afterwards an apostle, but not one of the twelve. These 
represented specially the Church which sprang from the seed 
of Abraham. There was likewise involved in this number 
twelve, a sublime promise for a remote future. Moreover, 
Peter did not address his speech merely to his ten fellow- 
apostles, but in his " Men and brethren " had in his eye, all 
the disciples who were present in the assembly. They all, 



238 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



as an integral body, promoted to the high office Joseph 
called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias — 
men who had, by their approved piety and spiritual endow- 
ments, shewn themselves better qualified for it than the rest. 
Doubtless both were among the seventy. We likewise here 
already see the body of believers exercising ecclesiastical 
functions as a church, which they were divinely authorised 
and called upon to perform ; of course in a regular manner, 
grounded on individual faith. After having made this 
appointment, the assembly united in prayer to God. " And 
they prayed, and said. Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts 
of all men, shew ivhether of these two thou hast chosen, that 
he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from 
which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his 
oivn place." There is no doubt that the "Lord, who knew 
the hearts of all men," to whom they addressed their prayer, 
was none other than the Lord Jesus, whom they had like- 
wise already worshipped at the time of His ascension ; 
and there is likewise also no doubt but that he who can- 
not pray to Jesus has never yet known Him. Having 
prayed, they cast lots, in humble acknowledgment of their 
circumscribed powers ; for it belonged to the dignity of 
an apostle that he should have been elected and set apart 
immediately by the Lord himself. The lot fell upon Mat- 
thias, and our Lord afterwards practically confirmed that it 
had been " cast " in His name. Matthias perfectly fulfilled 
his office as an apostle. Scripture, it is true, does not relate 
anything concerning it. Tradition speaks of the success 
which crowned his labours, first in Judea, and afterwards 
in Ethiopia ; from which latter country, he entered the 
" Church triumphant " above, adorned with a martyr's crown. 
It is true that some recent commentators maintain that the 
disciples had exceeded their authority in thus choosing an 
apostle; that they wilfully anticipated our Lord's appoint- 



THE TIME OF WAITING. 



239 



nient, who afterwards refused to sanction that of Matthias, 
and introduced Paul in his stead, as twelfth in the circle of 
the apostles. But there is not the slightest ground for such 
an assertion. The sacred narrative, on the contrary, repre- 
sents the act of election as extremely solemn and sacred, 
and as such, most certainly, pleasing in the sight of God. It 
is also inconceivable that our Lord should not have responded 
to the faithfulness of purpose, and to the humble submissive 
devotion with which the disciples prayerfully referred the 
decision to Him. Had He refused to recognise it, He would 
certainly have informed them of it in some manner ; which, 
however, He never did. Besides, we nowhere learn that when 
Paul had subsequently to strive so much with the Jewish 
Christians concerning his right to the apostleship, it ever 
even occurred to him to object to the election of Matthias, 
and to claim for himself to be placed the twelfth among the 
apostles. He simply declares that, notwithstanding the pre- 
cedence of the twelve, who were first ordained to lay the 
foundation of the kingdom of God, he likeivise was an apos- 
tle, and that by divine vocation and endowment he stood 
officially their equal. 

Thus, then, were the vessels prepared at Jerusalem, into 
which the streams of the new divine life could flow unim- 
peded. The number of devout believers undoubtedly in- 
creased from clay to clay, and when the clay of Pentecost 
dawned, it may certainly be assumed that the five hundred 
brethren, to whom our Lord manifested Himself after His 
resurrection, were amongst them. Would that the suscepti- 
bilities of those praying disciples were vouchsafed to us also, 
in our contemplation of the day of Pentecost ! In that 
assembly at Jerusalem, you see nothing less than the anti- 
type of those whom the ark of Noah once bore so safely 
across the billows of the universal deluge, the former being 
indeed immeasurably more blessed. In it, you see the 



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THE TIME OF WAITING. 



genealogical root of the new Israel of God, which will remain 
to the end of time. It is only as we are ingrafted with 
those who were thus awaiting the day of Pentecost, that we 
shall ever flourish in the courts of our God. May the Lord 
be pleased to bind us up with them "in the bundle of life," 
(1 Sam. xxv. 29,) and graciously hear us when we implor- 
ingly cry with the poet — 

" Oh, touch our tongues with flame 

When speaking Jesus' name, 
And lead us up the heavenward road ! 

Give us the power to pray, 

Teach us what words to say, 
Whene'er we come before our God. 
highest Good ! our spirits cheer; 
When raging foes are strong and near, 
Give us brave hearts undimm'd by fear. 

" golden rain from heaven 

Thy precious dew be given 
To bless the churches' barren field ! 

And let Thy waters flow 

Where'er the sowers sow 
The seed of truth, that it may yield 
A hundred-fold its living fruit, 
O'er all the land may take deep root, 
And mighty branches heavenward shoot." 

Lyra Germanica. 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



241 



XVIII. 

THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 

What a glorious and significant festival is the feast of 
Pentecost ! It is the feast of the union of heaven and 
earth, the feast of God's betrothal with redeemed man, the 
birthday feast of the New Testament Church, the harvest 
home of those who have been " brought nigh by the blood of 
Christ/' What would all the other festivals of our Church 
be without this one ? They would be only messengers ex- 
tolling acts of beneficence in which we ourselves might never 
hope to share ; heralds, inviting us to a marriage supper, the 
entrance to which we could never find. Whitsuntide en- 
ables us to enjoy those splendours which the other feasts 
have disclosed to our view. Whitsuntide brings to us the 
cupbearer, as it were, who first crushes the divine grapes of 
Christ's merits in the goblet, and presents it to us as a 
restorative draught. Let us therefore congratulate our- 
selves upon the joyous harvest-day of the new covenant, and 
may the Lord attune our souls to higher songs of gratitude 
and praise ! 

The old prophets, and amongst their number, Isaiah in 
chap, xliii. 1 8, led the world to anticipate by prophecies re- 
peated over and over again, that the Lord would "do a now 
thing" on the earth. That which was then in their mind's 
eye, was not merely in a general manner, the founding of a 
new covenant, as a covenant of grace, but more especially 



242 



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that which forms the subject of our feast of Whitsuntide — 
the day of Pentecost, with its immeasureably blessed results. 
In what does this miracle consist ? What was this event of 
world-wide importance through all time, which occurred at 
Jerusalem on that great Pentecostal day 1 It is the answer 
to this question to whicli we now address ourselves. The 
Lord grant that we may find the right one ! 

The signification of all other Christian festivals is more 
or less obvious to us all. Each has its own peculiarity and 
novelty. If Christmas be the festival of the manifestation of 
the incarnate God, the theme of Passion- week is " Christ hath 
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse 
for us." Good Friday fully relieves us from conscious guilt 
by means of the great Sacrifice. At Easter we see Him " who 
was delivered for our offences raised again for our justifica- 
tion/' On Ascension-day He ascends as our Head and Fore- 
runner, to open to us the world of glory, to take possession 
of it on our behalf, and to prepare a place for us there. 
And Whitsuntide? You say "at Whitsuntide the Holy 
Ghost came ! " Quite true. But did the Holy Spirit not 
come till then ? Have we not heard King David say, ''Take 
not thy Holy Spirit from me ? " Well then, what transpired 
at Whitsuntide that was strictly new, and before unknown ? 
That is precisely what we are now about seriously to inquire 
into. 

Acts ii. 1-13. 

" And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with 
one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, 
as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were 
sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues, like as of fire, and 
it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, 
and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. 
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every 
nation under heaven. Now, when this was noised abroad, the multitude 
came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them 
speak in his own language. And they were all amazed, and marvelled, 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



243 



saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans ? 
And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born ? 
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, 
and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pam- 
phylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of 
Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretesj and Arabians, we do hear them speak 
in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, 
and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this ? Others 
mocking, said, These men are full of new wine." 

This is the history of Whitsuntide, as wonderful in its 
meaning as it is plain and simple in its description. It 
reminds us of the history of creation, and is it not such 
itself? It informs us. indeed, of nothing less than of the 
establishment of a new moral world. Come, let us consider 
more closely the history of the entrance of the Holy Spirit ! 
How did He enter ? and who is He that thus enters ? in what 
sense may it be said of Him, that He came first miraculously 
on the day of Pentecost ? And how do we become personally 
conscious of His saving operation 1 May the Lord grant 
us the guidance of His light and His truth, to enable us to 
solve these points. 

. I. Prophetic annunciations, pregnant with importance, 
had been published throughout ages which preluded the day 
of Pentecost. Prophet after prophet gave the believers in 
Israel reason to hope for a time when the same Spirit, who 
at creation moved upon the face of the waters, should power- 
fully manifest Himself on earth in a manner previously un- 
heard of. John, the herald of the Messiah, spoke to those 
who came to be baptized with water by him, of a wondrous 
baptism of fire which was even then imminent ; and you 
know full well how repeatedly and emphatically our Lord 
gave expression to the promise of " another Comforter 9 
whom the Father would send in His name. What marvel 
is it then that the disciples so anxiously expected the hour 
when the prospect thus disclosed to them should be realised? 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



On the early morning of Sunday, the fiftieth day after 
Easter, we again visit Jerusalem in quest of the disciples. 
The holy city, swarming with strangers and pilgrims from 
far and near, glitters in the festive garb of the feast of first 
fruits. We again find the little flock, "with one accord," 
assembled in one of the spacious halls of the temple for 
prayer and supplication, intent but upon one thing, and that 
one not of this world. They all alike and strongly feel the 
need of preparation and endowment from above, without 
being distinctly conscious what it was that they thus needed. 
They wait — and wait ! What occurs ? Though the sky is 
clear and cloudless, a mysterious sound, like that of " a 
mighty rushing wind/' is suddenly heard over the city, 
almost reminding us of Jehovah's approach to Mount Sinai 
at the giving of the law, as described by Moses ; slowly and 
majestically it continues its course, and whilst the people, 
astounded, rush out into the streets, it approaches the 
temple on Mount Zion, and, suddenly halting there, it filled 
all the house in which the disciples, met for prayer, were 
sitting. At first, indeed, they were not a little terrified, but, 
nevertheless, being by this time somewhat versed in symbolic « 
annunciations, they soon anticipate what is about to happen ; 
and the last doubt is entirely dissipated, when the "rushing 
mighty wind" discharges a glittering shower of tongue- 
shaped flames, of which one rests upon each of their heads ; 
and, at the same moment, their hearts burn with a holy glow 
of* feeling such as they never before experienced. With what 
energy that celestial fire flashes through their souls ! The 
stream of love, light, and joy that rushes into their souls 
is miraculous ! The narrative informs us, " They were all 
filled with the Holy Ghost ; " and so it was. With exultant 
shouts of praise they respond to this salutation of power and 
blessing, which was the first vouchsafed them from their 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



245 



Master since His ascension to the right hand of God ; and 
then, obeying an irresistible impulse to bear their testimony, 
they present themselves to the crowd outside, which, led by 
the mysterious, whirlwind-like murmur, had followed it to 
Mount Zion, summoned as by a celestial tocsin, and there 
stood without in feverish expectation. 

And of what are we next informed ? The apostles begin 
to speak, and, with fervent inspiration, declare to the moving 
masses, — to the thousands of the inhabitants of the holy 
city, as likewise to the pious foreigners, pilgrims from all 
parts of the world, — the " wonderful works of God " (Acts 
ii. 2) in His plan of man's redemption. And in what lan- 
guage do they proclaim them? Observe the surprise, nay, 
more, the amazement, with which the multitude listen to 
their words. They whisper to each other, " Behold, are not 
all these which speak Galileans ? And how hear we every 
man in our own tongue, ivherein we were born V } And 
now they recount the nations amongst whom they dwell, and 
their vernaculars, and add, " We do hear them speak in our 
tongues the wonderful works of God." The narrative pro- 
ceeds, "And they were all amazed, and were in doubt;" 
i.e., they did not know what to say to it, and, moved with 
apprehension, they spake one to another, " What meaneth 
this ?" But some — probably the inhabitants of Jerusalem— 
who, by reason of their continued wilful opposition to the 
power of truth, were visited with hardness of heart as a 
judgment, mocked, saying, " These men are full of new 
wine!' 

But did the inspired disciple really speak in the tongues 
of all the different nations which are here mentioned ? How 
can any one still doubt it ? We read that each foreigner 
heard his own vernacular language. The Mede heard 
Median ; the inhabitant of Egypt, Egyptian ; the Roman, 



246 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST, 



Latin ; the native of Asia Minor, Greek. But perhaps it 
was a mere belief on their part that they heard their mother 
tongue, though it was not actually spoken. In that case, 
what here affects us with astonishment took place in the 
ears of the hearers, and the miracle is only transferred, but 
is not set aside. It is, however, perfectly evident that the 
inspired narrator represents the miracle as having taken 
place in the mouths of the speakers. But how could these 
ignorant fishermen and publicans so suddenly clothe their 
thoughts in forms of speech which they had not only never 
learned, but some of which, at least, they had never even 
heard ? Truly it is necessary, in order not to be staggered 
at the circumstances reported here, to believe in the existence 
of a personal and living God, ruling the universe in the exer- 
cise of unlimited power. But how can any man who is not 
an atheist raise an objection contrary to Christ's express 
assurance, that, "with God all things are possible?" The 
Pentecostal miracle of tongues is not greater than all others, 
but in its effects it was certainly only momentary and transi- 
tory. At least, we have no proof that the disciples con- 
tinued to be masters of all those foreign languages. To 
what purpose, then, was this miracle ? In the first place, it 
attested the creative power of the Holy Ghost, who had now 
come in a manner which was obvious to every one. Secondly, 
it served to give a palpable demonstration of the fact that 
barriers within which the Jews had hitherto been encircled, 
excluding the rest of the world, were now removed, and that 
the time had arrived when all nations should be called into 
the kingdom of God. And, lastly, it was a sublime typical 
representation of the surrender of the keys of the whole 
world into the hands of the apostles, and bore prophetic re- 
ference to the future which so surely lay before them, when 
" at the name of Jesus every knee should boiv, and every 
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



247 



of God the Father." To this very day we have those who 
are akin in spirit to those Jewish libertines who made the 
miracle wrought at Pentecost a subject of derision ; but they 
cannot succeed in deceiving us, since by their mockery. they 
but seek to hide their embittered anger and their secret 
despair. They acutely feel the highly prophetic and sym- 
bolic meaning of this miracle, and can no longer conceal 
from themselves that the very worst is henceforth most 
certainly to be apprehended for the kingdom of the father 
of lies, under whose banners they serve. 

II. Thus the Holy Spirit descended, under the significant 
types and figures of wind and fire ; the former being the 
great purifier of the atmosphere, and the latter the refining 
and warming element. " Who is the Holy Ghost?" Let 
us not remain satisfied with that which the world now-a-days, 
in its self-inflicted kindness, is wont to understand by the 
designation "Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit is something 
totally different from what we apprehend by hallowed inspir- 
ation. It is something different, likewise, from the "spirit 
of the Church ;" by which expression is indicated the style 
of thought, feeling, and action peculiar to the Christian 
Church. Neither, likewise, is the being of the Holy Spirit 
yet recognised where He is only apprehended as an illumin- 
ating and vivifying influence proceeding from God. He is 
more than an impersonal Divine energy. Let us see what 
explanation Holy Scripture gives us concerning His nature. 

As you know, our Lord Christ announced the Holy Spirit 
as " another Comforter," who, sent from Him and His 
Father, should, after His return to heaven, supply His place 
to His disciples, — should guide them into all truth, — should 
remind them of all that their Lord had declared to them, — 
should convince them of sin and of their need of redemption, 
— should glorify Him, the fairest of the children of men, 
throughout the world, — and should transform and renovate 



248 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



everything. In the baptismal formula the King of truth 
places the Holy Spirit side by side with the Father and 
Himself, the Son, as possessing equal authority and dignity. 
When the apostles implore the blessing of God upon the 
churches, they supplicate it in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and as expressly distin- 
guish the supreme Three from one another as they likewise 
expressly maintain their unity. They distinguish no less 
unequivocally between the Holy Spirit and His operations 
and gifts. Among other passages, we read, in the First 
Epistle to the Corinthians — " There are diversities of gifts, 
but the same Spirit ;" and then again — "All these worketh 
thai one and the self -same Spirit, dividing to every man 
severally as he will;" further — " The Spirit sear cheth all 
things ;" in another place — "No man can say that Jesus is 
the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost;" and — " We know not 
what we should pray for as we ought ; but the Spirit itself 
maketh intercession for us!' The Holy Spirit is, then, pre- 
sented to us in the Scriptures as a coequal Divine Person- 
ality. Only extreme blindness or wicked perverseness can- 
disallow it. 

This is the position in which we stand with reference to 
the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which forms the basis of all 
Christianity. If, at the first blush, here and there, one 
amongst us should recoil in surprise, we shall not be dis- 
posed hastily to rebuke him severely, since there is no other 
doctrine of Scripture so utterly beyond the range of our 
natural mental apprehension. But beware here of misappre- 
hension and false interpretation. Scripture nowhere imposes 
on us belief in that which is contrary to reason, as would be 
the case, were they required, that we should at one and the 
same time believe one to be three, and three to be but one. 
In point of number, there are indeed three ; but again, in 
essence, the three are one. Not as if the Father were a God, 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



249 



and the Son a God, and the Holy Spirit a God, as though 
there were three different Gods ; but as though the Father, 
the Son, and the Holy Ghost were all God, i.e., of divine 
essence and nature. But again, the equality of the three 
must not be exaggerated. Although the Son and the Holy 
Ghost are equal to the Father in divine nature and essence, 
the latter differs from the other two with regard to the 
fatherhood, since the Son was begotten of the Father, and 
the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and the Son. 
The three constitute, however, but one Triune God, not only 
because of the love which unites them, but likewise by the 
unity of their majesty, their will, and their action. Our 
world offers nothing properly analogous to this relation. In 
order to bring this subject nearer to human apprehension, 
we have indeed been called upon to conceive of an eminently 
gifted and highly intelligent artist, who should succeed in 
expressing and rendering visible, in an exquisite masterpiece, 
all the sublime, the ideal, and the divinely-beautiful which 
filled his imagination, and in which his whole inspired soul 
lived and moved. Then we might conceive this figure, on 
issuing from the artist's hands, to be suddenly endowed with 
life, and with the capability of receiving and reciprocating 
love. Were this realised the great artist would be visibly 
and objectively transferred into his statue as into an alter- 
ego, a second self ; then here again there would be two, yet 
only one. This figure displays to us only one aspect of the 
truth, namely, that the eternal and all-sufficient God, in 
whom no mutableness, but an impulse emanating from the 
fulness of His Godhead, acting from all eternity, and before 
creation, must have moved Him to the self-origination, as it 
were, of a second self : He reproduced His own image as the 
only worthy object of His love and His complacency, whom 
He essentially and practically endowed with His own ador- 
able attributes ; and this personal reflection of the Divine 



250 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



glory is the only-begotten Son. There is, however, nothing 
sublunary that corresponds with the procession of the Holy 
Ghost from the Father and the Son, since His personality is 
co-equal. Thus, then, the Holy Trinity, though involving 
nothing contradictory in itself, remains an inscrutable mys- 
tery to human apprehension, (I do not say to our experience.) 
It has, however, been revealed to us by God the Holy Ghost 
himself, whose province it is to discover " the deep things of 
God." It was not, however, announced to us in order that 
we might speculate about it idly, and with no definite result, 
but that we might profit by it to our salvation. It is 
enough that we, enlightened by the operation of the Spirit, 
believingly embrace the Son as poor sinners, and come to the 
Father through the Son. I will just observe, in passing, that 
the doctrine of the Trinity of the Godhead is not only dimly 
foreshadowed in the Old Testament, but is to be met with, 
though in a corrupted form, in the theological systems of all 
the ancient nations. Doubtless, this doctrine was amongst 
the primary divine revelations which, though corrupted and 
masked by sin, were, in Christ, restored to their original 
purity. 

But how can it be said of the Holy Ghost that He came 
first on the day of Pentecost ? Was it not He who, from 
the beginning of the world, Himself evinced His power as 
the medium of God's revelations to man, equipping and 
arming the heroes of Israel, enlightening and pervading the 
minds of the old Jewish prophets, so that it could be said of 
them, "They spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost/' 
Yes, indeed ! But, nevertheless, we hear the apostle John 
say, in the seventh chapter of his Gospel, " The Holy Ghost 
was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." 
The question will then naturally arise, whether the Holy 
Ghost, which operated under the old covenant, was not 
essentially another from Him who made His solemn entry 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



251 



amongst us on the day of Pentecost ? But this question we 
must decidedly answer in the negative. He was the same 
Spirit, and only entered into more intimate, cordial, and, at 
the same time, more energetic connexion with the redeemed 
world of sinners, after Christ had matured His work of 
mediation ; and we are as fully justified in saying that the 
Holy Spirit first Ccime to us at the Feast of Pentecost, as we 
are in saying we only admit of Christ's advent upon earth 
having taken place when He was born in human form, 
though previously, in the days of the old covenant, the Son 
of God had appeared upon earth. According to divine 
appointment, made in the exercise of divine sovereignty, He 
then only first came to fix His abode permanently with us 
in the character of King in Zion. Whereas in the old cove- 
nant He appeared rather as the Advocate of God with men, 
He appears in the new as the Advocate of redeemed humanity 
with God. If, under the former dispensation, it was pecu- 
liarly His province to found the kingdom of light and truth 
in all its length and breadth, it has, under the latter dispen- 
sation, been more especially His to mould, seal, and protect 
each individual of those who had been bought with the 
blood of the Lamb. Though His primary and leading 
motive was, so to speak, the Father's decree and plan of 
government, yet is He now mainly moved by love to us, in 
whom the divine counsels of peace have, through Christ, been 
consummated. Just as the training of man for that salva- 
tion which was about to be introduced, was that which He 
then had most at heart, so now does He exert Himself in 
imparting to a sinful world all the fulness of that salvation 
which Christ by mediation has obtained. How great and 
manifold were the things denied to believers in the days of 
the law ! Their consciences had not even been quickened. 
And still less was the doctrine of justification by faith fully 
realised by them, but rather dimly perceived. As yet they 



252 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



could not with full conviction say with the apostle, "The 
love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if 
one died for all, then were all dead." Confiding prayer in 
" the name of Jesus " was not yet practised by them. Even 
the holy of holies was yet hidden behind a thick veil, and 
the way to it was " not yet made manifest," (Heb. ix. 8.) 
And how far they were from being able to testify, as Paul 
afterwards did — " / live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." 
The Holy Ghost was "not yet given" to accomplish so 
creative and thorough ^ work of redemption in the inmost 
soul of man. Not until the great Sacrifice had been offered 
on the altar of the cross, and Christ had been glorified, did 
this effectual, regenerating, and renewing work of the Holy 
Ghost begin. It had now not only become possible, but it 
was likewise in perfect harmony with the divine decrees, 
that the Spirit of Christ should essentially glorify Christ in 
Christ's members, and make them share the nature of the 
Son of God. If you desire to render the difference of the 
Spirit's working under the law and under the gospel obvious, 
compare characters such as Moses, Elijah, or even David, 
with John, Peter, or Paul. All these men are conspicuous 
for their piety as men "after God's own heart," and yet how 
different is the stamp they bear. There is discoverable in 
the latter class an inner life, holier, and more deeply rooted 
in God, whilst at the same time more full and solid, than in 
the former. You immediately feel that what our Lord said 
with regard to His redeemed ones, could in no wise be 
applied to the Old Testament believers — "He that believeth 
on me, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." 
" This," adds the evangelist, at this passage, " spake he of 
the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive; 
for the Holy Ghost was not yet given." It will also now be 
evident to you what our Lord's meaning was, when He, in 
reply to the question .of the two " sons of thunder " — " Lord, 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



253 



wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, 
and consume the ungrateful Samaritans?" — rebuked them 
in these terms : " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye 
are of." 

III. Thus much with reference to the Holy Spirit, and 
His entrance into the world at the feast of Pentecost ! You 
will now desire to acquire a knowledge of His practical 
manifestations in human life, and to learn how we may 
become personally conscious of His operations. You know 
that His wondrous works are very numerous. We will, 
however, specify but three, of which the two first already 
belong to history, but the third continues uninterruptedly to 
the present hour. I put, in the first place, the production 
of the Holy Scriptures, the origination of the Word of God. 
What a structure is here- presented to us ! More than a 
thousand years elapsed before its completion ; and yet what 
unity there is in the plan on which it is based, in the spirit 
which pervades it, and in the thoughts, views, and doctrines 
which are treasured up in it ! If we only enter upon the 
study of it calmly and collectedly, we shall soon feel com- 
pelled to exclaim with the patriarch, " HoW dreadful is this 
place ! This is none other but the house of God, and this is 
the gate of heaven ! " We are here withdrawn from all the 
lower spheres of life, and breathe an atmosphere which meets 
us nowhere else. With what solemnity does it impress us ! 
We feel ourselves within the precincts of a temple, and near 
the throne of God. And now let us interrogate this won- 
drous' book on all the questions of vital importance to 
humanity, let us listen to its solutions, which are calculated 
as much to enlighten the mind as to pacify the heart ! Whence 
is the universe ? " God created it out of nothing." Whence 
is sin ? " Man, though created sinless and free, fell by his 
own fault." Whence came the misery that is in the world ? 
"Sin has begotten it." What is the original destiny of 



254 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



man ? " Likeness to God.' 1 But how can sinful man attain 
to this? "God has helped and helps us still, because He is 
a living God, and love itself." But how has He helped in 
times past ? how does He help now ? " He sent a Mediator 
and the spirit of regeneration." What is the issue and end 
of the regenerate ? " They change the pilgrim garb of this 
mortal body for a robe of heavenly glory." Traverse the 
whole world, and knock at the doors of all the schools of 
philosophy, and where will you meet a solution of any one of 
those great problems which so perfectly satisfies both head 
and heart as is conveyed to you in this sacred Word ? No- 
where ! And is this Word man's composition ? Shall it be 
held to be a production of that people on the banks of the 
Jordan, of so little repute in the world, so far surpassed both 
in science and art by the Greeks and the Romans ; and, 
moreover, naturally so foolish, so obstinate, and so constantly 
prone to idolatry ? Impossible ! From whatever aspect you 
may regard the Bible, it ever bears the stamp of God's Word 
in itself, palpably and obviously. It is a work of the Holy 
Spirit ; and those who have uttered or written the word, all 
testify with the apostle in perfect heartfelt truth : " We have 
received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is 
of God; that we might know the things which are freely 
given us of God. Which things also ive speak, not in the 
words which mans wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy 
Ghost teacheth; comparing {i.e., judging and explaining) 
spiritual things ivith spiritual." 

If you desire me to shew you another miraculous work of 
the Spirit, look at the multitude of disciples after the feast 
of Pentecost, and compare the condition in which they once 
met you. Even on the clay of His ascension they were but 
as mere children in understanding, full of foolish thoughts 
as to their Master's real plan, and likewise concerning their 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



255 



own vocation ; and, moreover, how dependent they were ; 
how utterly spiritless. Humanly speaking, hardly anything 
could be expected from them. But look once more upon 
these poor fishermen and publicans after they have received 
the Pentecostal baptism. Do you recognise them ? There 
they stand, beacons to the world, pillars of the kingdom of 
heaven, more intelligent than the greatest of those whom this 
world calls wise, more intrepid than the boldest heroes of 
whom history makes mention. Animated by a loftier spirit, 
they win over to the banner of the cross those who were 
most opposed. They were stimulated and impelled by such 
love, devotedness, and such contempt of the world and of 
death, as had never before been seen on earth. And is this 
sudden transformation to be accounted for as the effect of 
natural causes? The apostles are "miracles" just as the 
prophets were once so called in the Old Testament. They 
laud the creative power of the Holy Spirit in all they have 
within them, and with all that they possess, and are His 
living monuments and instruments recognisable from afar 

But our necessities are not provided for by the mere con- 
templation and recognition of the operations of the Holy 
Spirit. We must be personally conscious of His wondrous 
operations within us. The Holy Ghost must meet us in the 
little laboratory of our own heart. And can that be? It 
can and must! Hear what the apostle says — "We have 
received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God." 
Blessed Paul 1 Would that we all were able to boast the 
same ! By nature we have the spirit of the world, which is 
nothing less than the innate and natural mode of thought, 
feeling, judgment, and action by which one may indeed, as 
measured by the standard of the world, be perfectly moral, 
true to duty, and accomplished ; but we want that faculty 
for the apprehension of divine things, that sanctified in- 



256 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



terior, nay, all that is termed in Scripture, " The hidden 
man of the heart, which is in the sight of God of great 
price/' The head is full of error, the heart overgrown with 
the weeds of evil passions, the conscience slumbers, and the 
will is enslaved by the flesh. A man in this state does 
nothing from pure love to God, and yet will not even hear of 
the estrangement from God in which he is living ; he has no 
conception of the holiness of God's nature and will, and 
really understands nothing of God's Word. He misinterprets 
Peter's exclamation, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no 
respecter of persons ; but in every nation he that feareth 
him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." The 
divine tribunal excites no fear, because he imagines God 
will not be strict to mark iniquity. He indulges in anger, 
he hates, he envies, he is covetous of all vain glory, he 
idolises mammon, he follows his own fleshly lusts ; and yet 
it does not occur to him to condemn himself for it, nor 
does it even weigh upon his conscience. These are the 
features that characterise the man in whom no other spirit 
has yet ruled save the natural one, the spirit of this world. 
If you are still such a one, even before you are aware of it, 
a most wonderful change may take place in you. Where- 
ever and whenever it may happen, whether whilst you are 
reading or hearing God's Word, or during heavy trials, or 
aught else which may befall you, a light suddenly bursts 
upon you, as if scales fell from your eyes. That which in 
yourself you once held to be a mere failing, appears as sin 
worthy of punishment ; your good deeds, as fruits matured 
by selfism ; your life, hitherto as one, which even if it 
has not been squandered in mere inanities, has at least 
only been exhausted upon self ; and your hope of an antici- 
pated favourable sentence from the world's great Judge, as 
an unfounded imagination of your own infatuated mind. 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 257 

Yon discover that you have hitherto lived without fellowship 
with God. A silent and ever-increasing sorrow gradually 
overspreads your mind. You begin to long for grace, for a 
filial relationship towards God, for release from the bonds 
with which you are fettered ; and the same sigh will escape 
your soul as did that of Paul when he exclaimed, "Oh 
wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the 
body of this death?" Then gradually Jesus of Nazareth 
rises before your soul in a light in which you never beheld 
Him. "Yes/' exclaims your heart, panting for salvation, 
" Thou art He ! Thou art my Helper, my Eedeemer, and 
my only Saviour ! " With earnest longing you incline to 
Him, and confidingly surrender yourself to Him. Pre- 
viously you had not the slightest conception of what you 
now experience. It belongs to a region which is closely 
veiled to the natural eye, and personal experience alone can 
disclose its mysteries. The assurance becomes ever more 
and more vivid that the Man of Sorrows whom you behold 
is your Helper, your Saviour. You now understand Him ; 
you understand His invitation, " Come unto me, all ye that 
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." 
With unlimited confidence you cast yourself with all your 
cares upon Him. And what is the consequence? By the 
power of His mediation, and relying upon His unfailing 
assurance, you now look up to a reconciled God, and a new 
life springs up within you ; a life of love to God ; of freedom 
from the slavery of sin, of recovery from the old blindness, of 
heavenward progress in the strength of those most sure and 
blessed hopes which have been vouchsafed you. And this 
all-pervading change which you experience, is the work of 
the Holy Spirit in the microcosm of your heart. You have 
begun to keep the feast of Pentecost, and now continue 
unceasingly to celebrate it, for the Holy Ghost ever abides 

R 



258 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



upon you, n&y, even dwells within you, sustaining, admonish, 
ing, and warning, stimulating to all that is good, and raising 
you above yourself. 

All we who have been born in the lap of Christianity, and 
have received baptism, have been, in greater or less degree, 
moved and breathed upon by the Holy Ghost. Without 
being conscious of it, we owe much to the Spirit ; especially 
a keener moral consciousness than that which dwells within 
the most enlightened heathen, and more correct ideas of man's 
dignity, and of his higher destiny. But this does not enable 
us to boast the possession of any of His gifts. He himself 
must dwell within us, and penetrate our whole inner man 
with His regenerating and renewing power. We must be 
able to say with the apostle, " We have received, not the 
spirit of the world, but the Spirit ivhich is of God; that we 
might know the things that are freely given to us of God." 
If we have attained this, we may joyfully, on the ground of 
present living experience, make the other saying of the 
apostle our own, " Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither 
have entered into the heart of man, the things which God 
hath prepared for them that love him" 

May, then, for us a true feast of Pentecost be rung in ! I 
call upon you, my friends, to sound, by means of prayer, the 
chimes of salvation and of bliss. Let us from our deepest, 
inmost soul unite in the fervent utterance of the sacred 
poet : — 

"Thou fiery glow of Love ! 

Let us Thy ardours prove, 
Consume our hearts with quenchless fire ! 

Come, Thou trackless Wind ! 

Breathe gently o'er our mind; 
Let not the flesh to rule aspire ; 
Help us our free-born right to take, 
The heavy yoke of sin to break, 
And all her tempting paths forsake. 



THE DAY OF PENTECOST. 



259 



" Be it thine to stir our will ; 

Our good intents fulfil ; 
Be with us when we go and come ; 

Deep in our spirits dwell, 

And make their inmost cell 
Thy temple pure, Thy holy home ! 
Teach us to know our Lord, that we 
May call His Father ours through Thee, 
Thou pledge of glories yet to be ! " 

Schmolclc, 1715. — Lyra Oermanica. 



260 THE ADDRESS AT THE FEAST OE EElNTECOST. 



XIX. 

THE ADDRESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 

" We are labourers together with God" says the apostle, (1 
Cor. iii. 9,) and he is fully conscious of the high dignity 
which he hereby confers on himself and his fellow-disciples. 
How elevating is the thought to act as a co-worker with the 
Lord of the universe, to share in His interests, and to sub- 
serve His plan of government ! This expands the whole 
soul, and affords an inward satisfaction complete in itself. 
The secret dissatisfaction which so frequently steals upon 
millions of mortals, and seizes their souls most forcibly when 
they retire from the whirl of dissipation into solitude and 
quiet, has in the majority of instances its real foundation in 
the feeling, though possibly not recognised, that they, when 
closely scanned, are aimless in life, or are pursuing an end 
unworthy of the dignity and true destiny of man. Many 
have this source of uneasiness aggravated by the mournful 
accusation of conscience, that they not only have occupied 
themselves with the merest trifles, but that they have striven 
with all their might against God : by word and deed they 
have destroyed where God built, and, in opposition to Him, 
would either have suspended His sacred purpose, or, if pos- 
sible, would have frustrated it. How much are these men 
to be commiserated who wilfully prepare for themselves a 
secret hell already here on earth, whilst they might have 
rejoiced in a foretaste of heavenly peace had they but taken 



THE ADDKESS AT THE EE AST OF PENTECOST. 261 



part in the plans of the Almighty, — of which the issues are 
certain, — and had they but associated with His labourers in 
constructing the bulwarks of His spiritual Zion ! 

There is no greater cause of satisfaction than to know that 
we are "labourers together with God" however great our 
weakness may be. It compensates for all that we may inci- 
dentally lose ; for it has associated with it that which abun- 
dantly indemnifies us — the elevating consciousness that we 
fill in society a position in some measure worthy of our being, 
and do not exist as mere parasitical plants hanging on the 
boughs of humanity, having to anticipate a sentence similar 
to that passed upon the fig-tree in the Gospel parable, which, 
though boasting luxuriant foliage, remained year after year 
without rendering the fruit which the Lord of the vineyard 
sought, and concerning which He said ultimately, " Gut it 
down ; why cumber eth it the ground ? " 

In the following scripture we shall meet with a labourer 
together with God, whom we may not indeed expect to rival. 
But the Lord looks at the sincerity of our purpose and effort, 
without reference to its amount ; and the results lie in His 
hand, not in ours. 

Acts ii. 14-41. 

" But Peter, standing up with, the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said 
vmto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this 
known unto you, and hearken to my words : for these are not drunken, as 
ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. But this is that 
which was spoken by the prophet Joel : And it shall come to pass in the 
last days, (saith God,) I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh : and your 
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see 
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams : and on my servants, and on 
my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my Spirit ; and they shall 
prophesy : and I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth 
beneath ; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke : the sun shall be turned into 
darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the 
Lord come.: and it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the 
name of the Lord shall be saved. Ye men of Israel, hear these words ; 
Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles, and 



262 THE ADDRESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 



wonders, and signs, which. God did by him in the midst of you, as ye your- 
selves also know : him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and 
foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified 
and slain ; whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death : 
because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. For David 
speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face ; for 
he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved : therefore did my 
heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad ; moreover also, my flesh shall rest 
in hope : because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou 
suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me 
the ways of life ; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. 
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, 
that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. 
Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath 
to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise 
up Christ to sit on his throne ; he, seeing this before, spake of the resur- 
rection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see 
corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof Ave all are witnesses. 
Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of 
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which 
ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into the heavens : but he 
saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 
until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel 
know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have 
crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now, when they heard this, they were 
pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, 
Men and brethren, what shall we do ? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, 
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remis- 
sion of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the pro- 
mise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as 
many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many other words did he 
testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation. 
Then they that gladly received his word were baptized : and the same day 
there were added unto them about three thousand souls." 

Our feast-days and Sundays are the lights of the year, the 
greater and the lesser lights to rule the day and the night. 
How dismal would the year be without them ! How sombre 
and desolate our life, if the starry heaven of these festal days 
did not illuminate it with its splendour ! Whitsuntide is one 
of the most glorious of these feasts — the memorial of a new 



THE ADDRESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 263 

creation, which, though indeed spiritual, will one day obtain 
a splendid embodiment. The Creator is the Holy Ghost. 
We have already heard much of His nature and of His opera- 
tions. Of the latter we shall learn more whilst meditating 
upon the address of the apostle Peter at the feast of Pentecost. 
Let us look first at the contents of it, and then at its results. 
May the precious Comforter witness to us of Himself during 
our meditation! 

I. The scene is now laid at Jerusalem, hard by the temple. 
A multitude, so numerous that it extended further than the 
eye could reach, is in motion, excited to the utmost. In 
front is Peter, the fisherman, a man who in time past had 
greatly erred, and who at the outset had comprehended but 
little of His Lord's work, and of the aim of His mission. It 
might have puzzled him for a long while to tell why he spe- 
cially had received the surname of " Cephas," that is, " Kock." 
But our Lord had from the beginning recognised the sturdy 
manliness of his character, which only needed regeneration 
and .sanctification, and wisely adjudged him, therefore, to be 
the first to be exposed to the refining fire in the palace of 
the high priest, and, as we are accustomed to say, " to be 
proved there/' Now his naturally decided character had 
received divine consecration. He steps firmly, boldly, and 
confidently forth from the circle of the apostles, and raises 
his voice like a trumpet. Look well at the texture of his 
speech, truly worthy of admiration as a logical masterpiece, 
marvellous in a man who had never had the advantages of 
worldly culture, but who by his dexterity in weaving it made 
his Master's words true — viz., " from henceforth thou shalt 
catch men." The Holy Ghost teaches the best system of logic 
and dialectics, and furnishes His heralds and interpreters, 
not only with the subject of their proclamations, but likewise 
with the most suitable and corresponding form of expression. 
In order to obtain a hearing, Peter commences his address 



264i THE ADDBESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 

in a conciliatory strain, and, after having greeted the thous- 
ands before him as Jewish brethren, he introduces the speech 
with the request, " Hear these words !" You remember how 
he used violently to resent the least thing by which he felt 
himself annoyed. How at that time he could have launched 
forth against that band of scoffers who had dared to accuse 
not only himself, but all those who had been baptized with 
the Holy Ghost, of drunkenness. But now, however, there 
does not escape him one single word either of rebuke or me- 
nace. On the contrary, he is now so far master of himself, 
that he limits himself to repudiate the noisy, senseless imputa- 
tion, by the simple remark, that it was but the third hour of 
the day, i.e., nine o'clock in the morning, when no one would 
think of drinking wine, " No," says he, " drunkenness is on 
this occasion wholly out of the question. That which you 
have just witnessed is totally different. It is that which 
your great prophets have repeatedly and most unequivocally 
announced." And after having said this, he recalls the 
prophecy of Joel, a seer well known and highly esteemed 
by all the Israelites : " It shall come to pass in the last 
days, saith God, I will pour out my Holy Spirit upon all 
flesh," &c. 

The term latter, or " last days," as used in Scripture, 
means the closing period of the kingdom of God upon earth, 
and of the present dispensation. According to the views 
and representations developed in Scripture, this latter dis- 
pensation commences with Christ's appearance, and especially 
upon the completion of His work of redemption, in the out- 
pouring of the Holy Spirit at Whitsuntide ; because after 
that the longing of the world was set at rest by Christ's 
advent, provided it will appropriate that which has been 
done and accomplished for it. Again, this latter dispensation 
is brought to its close by the second coming of Christ to 
judgment ; and in the creation of a new heaven and a new 



THE ADDEESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 2C 5 

earth, " these latter and last days " have already extended 
through a cycle of eighteen centuries, and that which awaits 
mankind in its future experience will absorb the interval 
between the present time and its end. Nothing essentially 
new will ever again happen under the sun ; all that we have 
in prospect, that is either great or glorious, is but the deve- 
lopment and sequence of that which is already in progress. 
The kingdom of God has been established once for all, and 
is now, by strife and victory, only becoming more and more 
fully developed until it shall attain its final completion. 

Thus in the Bible-perspective, the beginning and the end, 
are often brought into juxtaposition, even though thousands 
of years may lie between them. Both the prophet Joel and 
the apostle Peter, when announcing the miracle at the feast 
of Pentecost, connect with it allusions to the "great and 
terrible day of the Lord,'' when, amidst wonders in heaven 
above and signs in the earth beneath, with other terrific 
phenomena, final judgment will be pronounced on man. 

When Peter had declared to the people, " That which you 
now see and hear is what was foretold by the prophet Joel/' 
he literally repeats the words of this prophet: " And it 
shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour 
out of my Spirit upon all flesh ; and your soiis and your 
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see 
visions, and your old men shall dream dreams : and on my 
servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those 
days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy" And to these 
words, which lead all to expect in their share of the promised 
divine blessing, together with the removal of all barriers and 
walls of partition, whether of age or condition, perfect 
equality likewise, the prophet adds, now that the future lies 
unveiled before his spiritual vision, the following fearful 
words: " And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and 
signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of 



266 THE ADDRESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 

smoke : the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon 
into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord 
come." Deeply agitated, the surrounding crowd listen to these 
prophetic words. But the speaker does not conceal from 
them that which is added to the prophetic, but at the right 
moment exclaims, with heightened emphasis, "And it shall 
come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the 
Lord shall be saved." 

In this last passage, Peter now extends the field of his 
operations. His hearers are naturally just about to inquire, 
" Who is the Lord whose name we must invoke to escape 
condemnation?" But the speaker still judiciously withholds 
a direct answer to this question, and leaves it to themselves 
to discover who the Lord is. who alone can assure them 
against the terrors of judgment. He contents himself at 
first with reminding them of the marvellous life of Jesus of 
Nazareth, of which they had been to some extent eye-wit- 
nesses, and presses upon them to consider whether it would 
have been possible for Him to perform the signs and won- 
ders which He did unless the Almighty had been with Him. 
The listeners now begin to think whether Jesus be really the 
Lord upon whom they should call. Then again, he makes 
another step towards his goal, reminding them at first of the 
bloody end of this mysterious Personage whom they had 
seen walking in their midst. But he proceeds most carefully 
with his work ; he avoids everything that might possibly 
exasperate them, and is immediately intent upon removing 
the scandal which was, as far as they were concerned, in- 
volved in the terrible issue of our Lord's life, and to meet 
the doubt whether one, who terminated His career in such a 
mode, could possibly be the Lord of heaven. He says, " Him, 
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknow- 
ledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have 
crucified and slain," Thus the heavy accusations raised 



THE ADDEESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 267 



in these words against the Jews are not without extenua- 
tion, though still leaving the sting rankling in their con- 
sciences. For it must constantly have recurred to them to 
say, " We, we are they who murdered Him." At the same 
time, the thought must have obtruded itself upon them, that 
God must inevitably have regarded the sufferings and death 
of Jesus as requisite and necessary to the completion of His 
(the Father's) purpose in the mission of His Son. And let 
it not be here unnoted with what clearness the same disciple, 
who on a former occasion would violently have obstructed 
his Master's progress to Jerusalem and the cross, now appre- 
hends the high importance of the " cross of Christ." Who 
wrought this in him ? who initiated him all at once into the 
great mystery, but precisely that Holy Spirit who now led 
him into all truth ? 

The multitude, becoming every moment more thoughtful, 
listen with increasing attention to the speaker, and it possibly 
occurred to many of them to think that of him which was 
said of his superior, though his speech was most simple, and 
totally destitute of oratorical pretension, still it was that of 
"one having authority, and not as the scribes." Peter pro- 
ceeds: "This man approved of God was crucified and slain; 
but the wicked who nailed him to the cross, have not, how- 
ever, attained their end, God hath raised him up, having 
loosed the pains of death." How this declaration must have 
astonished the multitude! "Really raised to life again?" 
they may have secretly asked themselves ; " is this an ascer- 
tained fact ? But if He were the man from God, why was it 
necessary that He should have yielded to death at all, and 
have been miraculously restored to life ? " Whilst thoughts 
and questions like these were passing through their minds, I 
think many a passage in the old prophecies must have flashed 
across their memory whose uniform tenor indicated that the 
future Messiah should " make His soul an offering for sin" 



268 



THE ADDEESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 



and then that by God He should be taken from judgment, and 
raised on high. But that which presented itself to them as 
dim and fleeting, was rendered definite and fixed by Peter's 
selection of some of those prophetic passages, particularly 
those in the Psalms which refer to the Messiah ; and he lays 
special stress on that passage in which the royal Psalmist 
prophesies concerning the great One that was to come, whom 
he calls " his Lord," who should indeed die, but neither see 
corruption nor remain in the grave, but rise again in trium- 
phant glory. The excitement of his hearers constantly in- 
creases. Presently the speaker, raising his voice, continues : 
" Yes, it was concerning Jesus of Nazareth that your king, 
David, moved by the Spirit of God, prophesied in those 
Psalms. Jesus obviously bears all the marks ascribed to 
him there, for he died, and God hath liaised him again; 
whereof we are all witnesses/' The great boldness and en- 
thusiasm with which Peter spake, and which all the other 
disciples m?nifested before the people, were adequate evidence 
that their belief in the resurrection of their Master was no 
mere conceit, but rested on a basis as firm as a rock. There 
was written upon the beaming countenances of these men, in 
characters that all could read, that He who had been dead 
was really alive again, and had the keys of death and hell. 

" And the man whom ye would not recognise," acids this 
Pentecostal preacher, " is more than risen. 'He is raised hy 
the right hand of God; 1 and this also in accordance with the 
prophecies of David, who says, in Psalm ex. : ' The Lord said 
unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine 
enemies my footstool.' " But did this sublime declaration 
really refer to Jesus ? Peter says, " Is it not perfectly obvious 
to you, that it is applicable to none but Him ? Here is the 
practical proof of it ! Noiu He is exalted to sit at the right 
hand of God," cries the apostle to the multitude before him, 
who were excited to the utmost ; and proceeds, " and having 



THE ADDEESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 269 



received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, He 
hath shed forth this which ye noiv see and hear." The 
assembled multitude are not only amazed, but terrified. 
What can they further object to this conclusive proof that 
Jesus is the Lord of heaven, the promised Messiah ? Truly 
He is the Lord ; it must be He whom God purposed to send 
into the world as its Saviour. And how had He been treated ? 
In spirit they see themselves already judged, and made His 
footstool. Their thoughts conflict within them like an armed 
host, accusing and excusing them. Peter has the draught 
which he so earnestly implored, already in his net, and all 
that now remains to be clone is to draw the net together over 
them. It is done. <! Therefore," he continues, " let all tlie 
house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that 
same Jesus, ivhom ye" (and now he utters the plain and simple 
truth, which must pierce their very hearts) " have crucified, 
both Lord and Glirist." 

Such is Peter's Pentecostal sermon, as striking as it is con- 
cise, as pithy as it is simple, and as enlightened as it is con- 
vincing. Is it not in itself a practical proof of the advent 
of the Holy Ghost ? 

II. But the operation and result of Peter's sermon afford 
a still more evident proof of this. Observe the emotion 
which pervades the crowd ; the expression of intense appre- 
hension on all countenances. "Now when they heard this," 
continues the narrative, " they were pricked in their heart." 
It shook the very foundations of their being ; it utterly pros- 
trated them by depicting the whole magnitude of their 
blood-guiltiness ; it made them tremble and shudder at the 
thought of His tribunal who has said, " Vengeance is mine, 
I will repay." Filled with concern, and panting for deliver- 
ance and salvation, they cry to Peter and his fellow-apostles, 
" Men ami brethren, what shall ive do ?" And what answer? 
Concise in its terms, but again testifying to the divine ilhi- 



270 



THE ADDEESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 



mination of the speaker, for he exhausted the whole scheme 
of salvation in a few syllables: "Repent, and be baptized 
every one of yon in the name of Jesus Christ for the remis- 
sion of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 
For the promise is unto you and your children, and to 
all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God 
shall call." And much that is not related did Peter add to 
this, concluding with the exhortation : " Save yourselves 
from this untoward generation," i.e., from the multitude, 
who obstinately close their heart against belief, and will not 
see the light, although it be reflected upon them. And 
they are willing to be saved. Three thousand joyfully 
accept the word, and are baptized, thereby devoting them- 
selves soul and body to the Lord Jesus as their true Saviour 
and only Mediator and Kedeemer. At one cast of the gospel 
net three thousand souls are taken, and quickened with the 
Spirit from on high ! Peter ! how perfectly true were 
our Lord's words, when He gave thee the assurance that 
thou shouldst become a "fisher of men!" 

But what had really occurred to those three thousand on 
the great day of Pentecost ? A generation were born again ; 
a race of essentially renewed individuals ; new not indeed as 
to the body, but in their minds, and hearts ; perfect, though 
not at once so, in their development ; but the faculty was 
there of becoming so, and a germ involving the pledge of a 
most glorious development. The Church of Christ was 
founded. Llad you but been able to look into the inmost 
soul of those three thousand, you would indeed be astonished 
at the transformation which took place so suddenly within 
them. The gulf lying between them and even the most 
noble of those who are still in a btate of nature is vast and 
boundless. They now look at everything from a totally 
different stand-point from the world ; for they regard every- 
thing as having reference to God, His government and His 



THE ADDRESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 271 



kingdom. They measure everything by a totally different 
standard from that previously employed by them ; for now 
their only standard is God's Word. All that they now 
undertake, is carried out differently ; for the love of Christ 
constrains and guides them. Even in rejoicing, their motives 
for doing so differ from those of the world, for, resting on the 
bosom of His grace, they joy in a disburdened, free, and 
happy conscience. And how differently do they bear and 
suffer, knowing that they drink only the cup mixed, pre- 
pared for them by their God, in all kindliness of purpose 
and in the exercise of a wise providence ; and thus they also 
love differently : for they love in God, who will also have 
compassion on their brethren. They now aim at other ends : 
their objects are high — nothing less than holiness, likeness to 
God, and communion with Him. The life they lead is unto 
the Lord. They cast all that gives them concern upon God. 
Though the world may not see it, their walk and conversa- 
tion is already in heaven. With silent joy they listen to the 
music of the other world ringing in their ears ; and death, 
when he beckons to them holds out a crown of glory. 
Such were the Pentecostal converts, having indeed to fight 
whilst here below, but their warfare is a spiritual one Such 
are they who are new created by God's Holy Spirit : the 
sanctified, who though as yet disguised, are, in the inmost 
features of their character already transformed into the 
image of Christ. Yv T ere the world filled with such men, 
then, as you must perceive, peace would, dwell on earth, and 
earth would again be a paradise. And we may all become 
such, and must do so, would we secure our souls and be as- 
sured of our future. The way to this end has been pointed out 
to us ; and even if it had not been so before, it is disclosed 
to us in the narrative. Baptized with water we are indeed 
already. With many of us, however, baptism is only borne, 
as are the royal arms by deserters upon their epaulets, only 



272 



THE ADDRESS AT THE FEAST OF PENTECOST. 



to manifest their shame and condemnation. By deciding to 
surrender our hearts unconditionally to Jesus Christ, let us 
allow the baptism which we once received to become truth. 
The Moral Ruler of the world who came and dwelt amongst 
us on the day of Pentecost will then immediately mould us 
into members of His kingdom : the effect of which will 
assuredly be to enable us, at least in some degree, to say 
confidently with the apostle : " But we all, with open face 
beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed 
into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the 
Spirit of the Lord." May the Lord in His great mercy help 
as all to attain this ! He will do it if our hearts be attuned 
to tones as pure and lovely as those found in the sacred song 
of our old poet Tersteegen : — 

" fount, Spirit, who dost take and show- 
Things of the Son to us — who crystal clear 

From God's throne and the Lamb's dost ceaseless flow 
Into the quiet hearts that seek Thee here — 

I open wide my mouth, and thirsting sink 

Beside thy stream, its living waves to drink. 

" 1 give myself to Thee, to Thee alone, 

From all else sunder'd, Thou art ever near; 

The creature and myself I all disown, 

Trusting with inmost faith that God is here ! 

God, Spirit, Light of life, we see 

None ever wait in vain who wait for Thee." 

Tersteegen, 1731.— Lyra Germanica. 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMFORTER. 



273 



XX. 

THE PENTECOSTAL COMFORTER 

" / tell you the truth ; it is expedient for you that I go away : 
for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto 
you ; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." Thus did 
our Lord (John xvi. 7) address His disciples, when their 
hearts were filled with sorrow at the intimation He had just 
given of His approaching departure. Since the Lord of 
heaven says, " It is expedient for you," and couples with it 
the asseveration, "I tell you the truth" that must, indeed, 
be something great and glorious which He holds forth in 
prospect to them. And truly nothing more precious could 
have been promised them than the sending of the Holy 
Ghost. Were the Holy Spirit here represented but as " He 
who shoidd convince the ivorld of sin, of righteousness, and 
of judgment," that would suffice to indicate His preliminary 
work ; which is simply restricted to make known the channels 
by which the streams of salvation, comfort, and peace, are 
conveyed to man, and with which He comes to bless humanity. 
Whilst engaged in this meditation, may the Lord deign to 
revive us with plenteous draughts from these streams ! And 
He will do so if He but find us amongst those who thirst for 
them, and to whom the invitation has gone forth from the 
lips of the Most High : (l Ho, every one that thirsteth, come 
ye to the ivaters ; yea, come, buy ivine and milk without 
money and without price" 



274 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMFOETEE. 



Acts ii. 16-18. 

" But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel ; And it shall 
come to pass in the last days, (saith God,) I will pour out of my Spirit upon 
all flesh : and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young 
men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams : and on my 
servants, and on my handmaidens, I will pour out in those days of my 
Spirit ; and they shall prophesy." 

However charming the word Whitsuntide may strike upon 
the ear, because the exhilarating image of spring, decked in 
all her bridal attire, is associated with this festival, still it is 
difficult to speak intelligibly of the importance of the holy 
day of Pentecost to a general modern assembly. But why 
is it so ? Because, alas ! so little of the Holy Spirit is to be 
found in the churches, that it remains but too true which the 
apostle said, " The natural man receiveth not the things of 
the Spirit of God ; for they are foolishness unto him, neither 
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned?' 
Is it then most advisable to say nothing at Whitsuntide of 
the signification of this festival ? By no means ! For, in the 
first place, the Holy Ghost avails Himself of the 'preached 
word to open the understanding of the hearers with reference 
to their own character, provided He finds in them the least 
trace of susceptibility for dreavenly things ; and, moreover, 
there can scarcely fail to be individuals who are first-fruits 
of the Spirit in any Christian assembly. I hope, then, that 
it will be the desire of ail of you, that the import of this 
great festival, especially its consolatory feature, may present 
itself to you in a more ample manner than it ever previously 
did, whilst, guided by the prophetic passage quoted by Peter, 
I take a rapid glance at that neiv period of the kingdom of 
God which dates from that marvellous day. What will you 
tli en be enabled to perceive? In the first place, you will see 
the frontiers of tlie divine kingdom extended to the ends of 
the earth; secondly, the Holy Ghost appointed to remoidd 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMFOETEE. 



275 



the world ; thirdly, the whole human race assigned to Him 
for exaltation in heaven ; fourthly, a new family tie formed 
by Him amongst the children of Adam ; and finally, the 
foundation of a general priesthood of believers. 

Let us fix our attention for a while on each of these sub- 
jects ; and may the witness of the Spirit of truth not fail us 
whilst so eno-ao-ed ! 

I. I do not need first to depict the stirring scene in which 
Peter addresses to us the prophetic words which we have 
just heard from the book of Joel as having been just then 
fidfilled, as far, at least, as their principal meaning was con- 
cerned. You are already, in thought, in the midst of that 
grand scene, and you share the astonishment of the thousands 
assembled on Mount Zion, at the miraculous signs of the 
mysterious £< mighty rushing ivind" the cloven tongues of 
flame on the heads of the hundred and twenty disciples who 
were baptize I with the Holy Ghost, as well as at the foreign 
languages which they spake, and at the marvellous unction 
and power with which you suddenly hear those poor fisher- 
men, publicans, and sailors, declare the wonderful works of 
God their Saviour. The greatest indignation seizes you, 
that at the time when all around burst forth into an exclama- 
tion of most intense amazement, '-'What meaneth this?" a 
band of disorderly fellows should have vented the vulgarity 
of their minds in mockery, saying, " These men are full of 
new wine." And how your reverence for those holy and 
inspired men increases when you hear one from among them 
indignantly, but with calm composure, repudiate the dis- 
graceful accusation, and explain quietly and clearly to the 
assembled multitude the true meaning of what they see and 
hear, saying, " This is that ivhich iuas spoken by the prophet 
Joel : Thus saith God, It shaU come to pass in the last days," 
(i.e., in the period of the completion of God's kingdom, 
which began with the day of Pentecost,) " I w-ill pour out of 



276 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMPOETEE. 



my Spirit upon all flesh." Do you hear ? — " upon all flesh /" 
You have now the first novelty which is introduced here. 
Up to that time, the limits of God's kingdom did not extend 
beyond those of the one chosen people. Divine revelation 
was made to Israel alone, and upon the Jews only did the 
Holy Ghost exercise His moulding and training agency. 
God allowed all other nations, as it is said in the Psalms, 
" to go their own ways." In them, mankind were first to try 
their own strength, and thus to prove, as it were, how far 
they were able to advance in knowledge of the truth and 
self-improvement. For thousands of years they strove — and 
who will deny that, despite their degeneracy, they succeeded? 
— I might say, in presenting themselves, in more than one 
respect, and especially in works of mind and genius, as a 
race of fallen kings. By which of our men renowned for 
earthly wisdom has the heathen Plato been surpassed ? By 
which of our politicians the heathen Pericles ? By which of 
our orators, the heathen Demosthenes? By which of our 
artists, the heathen Phidias? By which of our poets, the 
heathens Homer and Sophocles? By none. And never- 
theless, those nations that had made the greatest progress, 
and were the most civilised, had shewn themselves so incap- 
able of raising themselves to any extent from their religious 
and moral decay, that at the time of the eventful day of 
Pentecost, all the nations of the world, with the exception of 
the Jews, were on the verge of total moral corruption and 
dissolution. Their misery cried to heaven. But it was 
right and necessary that they should first be made sensible 
of their need of salvation and help, in order that the intended 
redemption of the world should not find all hearts entirely 
closed against it. The needed assistance came. On the day 
of Pentecost, the Lord God removed the barriers that encir- 
cled Israel, and extended the limits of His kingdom from 
pole to pole. Henceforth the unsealed fountain of life should 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMFOKTER. 



277 



send its streams into all lands, making even the deserts to 
bloom. This has happened, and will come to pass again ; 
and our anxiety for the future of the world and of our race 
is so far dissipated, since we know that whoever wills not to 
remain in death, may live. 

II. Let us hear something more concerning the compas- 
sionate purpose of our God. " / will pour out," says He in 
His promise, " of my $pi7*it upon all flesh" How consola- 
tory does this sound ! And yet it seems as though He here 
only promised to impart isolated spiritual gifts. The per- 
sonality of the Holy Spirit is less apparent. But, on the 
other hand, we know well how strongly it is emphasised in 
other passages of Holy Scripture. I do not need to remind 
you again either of the passage in John xiv. : " / will pray 
the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter ; " or 
of His word — " The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 
whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you 
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, what- 
soever I have said unto you;' or of the passage in John 
xvi. : " Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he 
will guide you into all truth;" or of the other one — "He 
shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that 
shall he speak : and he will shew you things to come. He 
shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine, and shall 
shew it unto you." Just as little occasion have I to recall 
well-known passages in the epistles in which the Holy 
Ghost is most unequivocally distinguished from the Father 
and the Son, where operations and works purely personal in 
their character are ascribed to Him, and the same dignity 
and honours are attributed to Him which are due to the 
Father and the Son. If divine revelation did not most 
explicitly represent the Holy Ghost as a being, a personality 
equal to God, how could the Christian Church have made 
the triple personality of the Godhead (if I may make use of 



278 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMFORTER. 



this expression) the very foundation of Christianity ? It is 
indeed a matter of faith. But we are not required to be- 
lieve anything which we cannot directly perceive in the way 
of our own personal experience. Enough that after Christ 
had fulfilled His great work of atonement, the Holy Ghost — 
who, exercising creative power, now moves over the wilder- 
ness and desert of the moral world, as He did in the be- 
ginning of days over the waters of the earth, which was still 
without form and void — has come down to us in order, in 
Christ's name, to occupy Himself in the exalted office of 
spiritually moulding and creating degenerate man anew. 
What a consolatory thought this is ! We know that another 
spirit than the Holy Ghost likewise rules upon earth, and 
that he too has selected man as the material, operating upon 
which, he strives to reproduce himself and his character. 
He likewise has his personality ; true it is, he is but a crea- 
ture; but armed with mighty power, and endowed with 
great cunning and subtlety. He is the fallen morning star, 
once the most distinguished of all spirits which proceeded 
from the hand of God ; now, however, God's sworn enemy, 
and the most bitter opponent of the kingdom of God, and of 
all that is good. His dominion is so extended and so great, 
that the Scripture concedes to him not only the title of 
" prince," but even calls him the " god of this ivorld." 
Satan is his name. What would become of us, if we stood 
alone opposed to him, and to his legions of angels, thrown 
back upon our own defensive powers ? But, praised be 
God ! a mightier One now contends with him, who laughs 
his power and his machinations to scorn, and who will 
infallibly keep the field. The Spirit of Pentecost, this 
communicating Agent of heavenly powers to us mortals, 
this Creator of life and Liberator from bonds, undertook, 
from the day of Pentecost, to guide, educate, and instruct 
the whole human race. What can we desire more? What 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMFOKTEE, 



279 



hopes may we not cherish with reference to the further 
development of our race ? Acting upon fallen human nature, 
He will know how to make something to the glory of God! 
Whitsuntide inspires courage. Though for a while falsehood, 
crime, and ungodliness cover the earth as waters cover the 
bed of the sea, the day of Pentecost prevents despair and 
apprehension. Taken collectively, we are not going down 
hill, but, on the contrary, are rising higher. Jerusalem is 
being built. There shall be a new earth as well as a new 
heaven in which righteousness shall dwell. Nothing is 
more certain than this. The rule of the Spirit of Pentecost 
assuredly guarantees it to us. 

III. " I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh." Why 
does the Lord thus express Himself in His promise ? Partly 
in order to intimate the extensive sphere of the operations of 
the Holy Ghost at the time of the new covenant ; partly in 
order to indicate that, as the rain and dew refresh the veo-e- 
table world, so the Spirit from above will penetrate man's 
whole nature, vivifying and transforming him. We already 
know that the Holy Ghost operates differently under the 
new covenant from what He did under the old. Your at- 
tention has been already directed to the difference between 
His operations subsequent to the feast of Pentecost, and 
those which were wrought prior to that day. You will 
admit that, during the legal dispensation, such characters 
were never brought under your observation, (subsequent to 
Pentecost,) as you discover in a John, in a Peter, or in a 
Paul, who were so wholly dead to the suggestions of the old 
man, in whom holiness pervaded their being to its very core, 
and whose walk and conversation were already in heaven. 
The Holy Spirit, moreover, works by means of the Word, 
and never without it. His primary workings are indeed of 
a painful character. He begins His work by dispelling 
many favourite delusions in which we may have involved 



280 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMFOETEE. 



ourselves. Acting as guardian, before His wards are aware 
of it, the " good God " in whom they had implicitly looked 
for comfort is transformed into a thrice-holy majesty, the 
much - loved seat of the universal Father into a dread 
tribunal, glowing with fiery flamer;, and His " beautiful 
heaven " into a holy of holies to which only the consecrated 
and righteous may obtain admittance ; His law, which they 
thought so easy to fulfil, becomes a most relentless accuser, 
if violated but in one point, and that ^whether it be by overt 
act, or only by latent desire or inclination. A burning and 
shining light, such as they have never heretofore seen, then 
rises before them, disclosing their real state. Their peace 
of mind is gone. They tremble at the thought of the day of 
account. But now the Spirit continues His work within 
them ; for He glorifies Christ in them, revealing the treasures 
of compassion which lie concealed in Him, teaching them to 
believe in the propitiatory power of His blood, and bearing- 
testimony with their spirits that they also are children of 
God through the mediation of their everlasting High Priest. 
And, together with peace in believing, He inspires love in 
the heart, filial love to God the Lord, and to all that is God's ; 
and with love He implants hope, which enables them to see 
the world, death, and the grave, placed beneath their feet, 
and soaring on eagle's wings far above the heights of earth, 
joyfully to attain that abode which is prepared for them on 
high. Thus they journey, God's pilgrims and His citizens, 
cheerfully performing what is required in the service of the 
Lord, and happy in the blissful prospects which they see 
disclosed before them. The Holy Ghost transforms all the 
poor children of Adam who confidingly submit themselves to 
His care, into such men, living to the Lord ; and He never 
more forsakes them, but helps their weakness, arms them for 
the fight that shall issue in victory, against all the powers of 
darkness, expands their heart and gives enlargement and 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMEOBTER. 



281 



fervency in prayer, and renders them unceasingly the most 
splendid services and powerful assistance, by a thousand 
secret modes, instructions, warnings, and intimations, often 
before they are aware. Such is the transformation which 
the Pentecostal Spirit imparts to those who are under His 
guardianship here on earth. 

IV. But to whom does the Spirit thus reveal Himself? 
In the days of the old covenant he generally held intercourse 
only with the pillars and dignitaries in God's kingdom, en- 
lightening them, and delivering His messages to them. 
Since His entry into the world at Pentecost, however, He 
has designed His loving care indiscriminately for all sinners, 
just as the Mediator s blood was shed for all. The declara- 
tion of the prophet Joel must have struck the^ ears of the 
ancients with wonder : " Your sons and your daughters 
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and 
your old men shall dream dreams : and on my servants and 
on my handmaidens I ivill pour out in those dags of my 
Spirit." This did not mean indeed, They shall all receive 
direct revelations from God ; its signification was rather 
this : The Spirit will subject them all to His operations, and 
according to His purpose, make them partakers of a new 
life. And we now see this fulfilled. Old and young, 
learned and unlearned, high and low, masters and servants, 
and maidens too, experience a new birth, which influences 
their mind, temper, and understanding, their heart and their 
conversation ; the external distinctions of superior and in- 
ferior continue in the meanwhile, such being God's will and 
ordinance ; but they are inwardly, and with reference to the 
Spirit, upon a perfect equality as to rank and training. A 
nobility is instituted, novel in its kind, ranking immeasurably 
higher than one proceeding from mere birth and descent. I 
meet men amongst those who have been baptized in the Spirit, 
who go about in working-men's dress, " who, if we speak of 



282 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMFORTER. 



deeds, would be found to be men who have overcome the 
world — who, as to education, judge all the things of this 
world immeasurably more soundly and profoundly than 
thousands of learned men — who, as to their minds, possess 
much deeper conceptions than those of the greatest philo- 
sophers, where these latter have but drawn from the re- 
sources of their own minds — and who, as to morals, may 
boast that they exhibit a tact much finer and more delicate 
than any dictated by a mere worldly system of fashions, in- 
asmuch as theirs is peculiarly their own, and not borrowed 
from others. He who gives free scope to the Holy Spirit 
will be raised by Him to a degree of general moral refine- 
ment to which no human art or science can possibly elevate 
him. I know men in the highest rank of society who, be- 
cause they share in the Holy Spirit, feel themselves more 
closely, nearly, and intimately connected with their converted 
servants, than with their equals, in a worldly point of view, 
in culture and rank. And this feeling of relationship is 
maintained among all genuine children of the Spirit. Thus 
the Holy Spirit forms a new family tie among the children 
of Adam, which will ever extend further and further, until 
at length it shall embrace all mankind as one flock under 
one Shepherd. " For by one Spirit" says the apostle, (1 Cor. 
xii. 13,) comprehending all true believers with himself in 
one body, " are we all baptized into one body, whether we be 
Jews or Greeks, whether we be bond or free ; and have been 
all made to drink into one Spirit ;" and in Gal. iii. 28 : 
" There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor 
free, there is neither male nor female : for ye are all one in 
Christ Jesus." 

V. The gifts of the Holy Spirit are manifold. They are 
not all necessary to salvation. Some of them, such as the 
ability to preach, the qualifications of a pastor, of church 
government, and the like, only serve to the perfecting of the 



lHE PENTECOSTAL COMFORTER 



283 



kingdom of God. Under the old covenant these were 
associated with particular offices. The Spirit now dis- 
tributes these to such in the Church of Christ as He wills ; 
"But the manifestation of the Spirit is given" says the 
apostle, " to every man to profit withal ;" and the " universal 
priesthood" of believers is based upon this fact, without 
detriment to the ordinances and offices established by God in 
the Church, nay, accommodating and making themselves 
subject to them, they are all called, as endowed each severally 
according to the measure of His gift, to co-operate in the 
perfecting of the kingdom of God. There is not one amongst 
them who is not authorised, and to whom it is not likewise 
conceded to appear before the throne of God with suitable 
intercession for others ; to win souls to the Lord by words 
mighty to convince, plain and simple though they be ; and 
to light the way to the divine havens of refuge, to those 
who have gone astray, and have wandered from the right 
path, by the quiet shining light of their own example. 
"He thai believethon me" saith our Lord, ''out of his belly 
shall floiv rivers of living water.'" What a promise is this! 
True believers are not only blessed themselves, but, wherever 
they are, they are springs of blessing for all around them, 
which flow unceasingly, and yet are never exhausted, so that, 
whether silent or speaking, at rest or in action, they are ever 
exerting an influence, now awakening, now quickening, now 
enlightening, and now calming and solacing. They are as 
" trees planted by the rivers of ivater, whose leaves shall not 
wither," nay, " serve for the healing of the nations." But all 
this is through the Holy Spirit, who, dwelling in them, has 
chosen them to be His vessels and His instruments. If we, 
then, my friends, have not yet assumed this priestly character, 
there is no reason why we might not have done so, and that 
long ago. We are all called thereto. The Divine Com- 
forter, with His wondrous unction, has long stood at the door 



284 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMFORTER. 



of our hearts. Oh that we would but admit Him, and grant 
Him free and unbounded scope for His operations ! our moral 
atmosphere would soon be filled with Divine quickening and 
saving powers ; and even though " lightnings and thunder- 
ing s and voices" should not proceed from us, our whole 
appearance would breathe a something which would revive 
the withered, refresh the weary, and reanimate the sick. 
Oh, when will it come to pass that the prevailing want of 
spirituality shall cease from amongst us, when there shall be 
an efficacious remedy for our drooping faith, and that the 
Divine creative fiat shall resound to awaken the dead by 
whom we are encompassed : " Come from the four winds, 
breath, and breathe upon these slam that they may live ? " 
When shall we be able to say of our churches: " Lo, the 
winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear 
on the earth ; the time of the singing of birds is come, and 
the voice of the turtle is heard in our land 1 " It would soon 
come to pass indeed, if our souls did but really thirst for it, 
and if the holy flame of prayer, which so delightfully and 
fervently meets us in the sacred song, were never extinguished 
on the altar of our hearts : — 

" Holy Ghost ! Thou fire divine ! 
From highest heaven on us down shine. 
Comforter, be Thy comfort mine ! 
Oh, cleanse our souls from sinful stain, 
O'er desert hearts Thy blessing rain, 
And heal the wounded from their pain. 
And may we live in holiness, 
And find in death our happiness, 
And dwell with Thee in lasting bliss ! " 



Lyra Germanica. 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 



285 



XXI. 

THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 

In Ps. xxv. 1 6, David breaks forth thus, " I am desolate ! " 
In one sense it was truth, in another it was not so. He felt 
desolate ; but our feelings deceive us thousands of times. 
He was never deserted for a moment. The Lord was with 
him even when concealed "behind the wall." "I am deso- 
late ! " This is a lamentation that is heard more frequently 
than any other in the " tabernacles of the righteous!' But we 
should not be too hasty. Let us remember that such a com- 
plaint makes God a liar, for He has said : " The angel of the 
Lord encampeth round about them that fear him;" and 
Jesus a liar, for He saith, " Lo, I am with you alway, even to 
the end of the world." And as this latter is the Alpha, so 
likewise is He the Omega, and as the first, so likewise is He 
the last. Many complain, in contemplation of the guidings 
in Providence, of the path in which they are constrained to 
go, " I am desolate ! " But were it really a fact, that the 
Lord is leading thee by a way trodden by no second in- 
dividual, would that be a misfortune ? I think, if He but 
lead us, that ought to be enough for us. ' : Shall the thing 
formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made 
me thus ? and the clay to his potter, What makest thou 1 " 
And no one can say with truth, in reference to the path by 
which he is led, " / am desolate ! " Many travel the same 
road, though we are not aware of it. Search Scripture, and 



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you will certainly find some one there, and upon closer survey 
you will find amongst your fellow-pilgrims, some in whose 
experience you may recognise your own. And it is un- 
doubtedly consolatory and encouraging to meet brethren 
amongst the saints of God, whose experience in following 
the Lord agrees with ours. " I am desolate !" exclaims many 
a one with reference to the faith which he confesses, and 
according to which he lives. I believe things, thinks he, 
which millions of my fellow-men have long since rejected as 
idle tales, such as (amongst others) Christ's Godhead, re- 
demption through Christ's blood, His miracles, and signs. 
And in connexion with such a perception arises the doubt 
whether he be the only one that is in the right, and whether 
all those millions be in the wrong. thou who art tor- 
mented by such a doubt, know that assuredly those millions 
err, and that thou, though thou wert alone in thy belief, art 
right, for thy foundation is the Word of God. But thou 
lookest at the matter far too gloomily when thou supposest 
that there are but so few who hold thy faith. The number 
of those who have not bowed the knee to Baal is innumerably 
greater than thou of "little faith" dost imagine. And, 
moreover, cease to judge the race of mortals who surround 
thee to be the whole world of intelligent beings, and this 
earth, but as the drop of a bucket, as God's whole universe. 
Left up thine eyes and see whether thou art really desolate. 
Look at the ten thousand times ten thousand standing be- 
fore the throne of the Almighty, and at the multitude of just 
men made perfect, whom no man can number, in white 
robes and with golden harps in their hands. These are thy 
fellow-believers who bear their testimony to thy faith, and 
who, interceding for thee and for thy cause, pray day and 
night, and adoringly cry, " Worthy is the Lamb that was 
slain to receive honour and glory and blessing for ever and 
ever!" But, as we have said, there are numbers here now 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 



287 



who hold the same faith, who serve the same Lord, who 
walk the same path, and who fight and suffer with thee, and 
who, unknown to thee, bear thee upon prayerful hearts. And 
be assured they are amongst the very noblest who breathe 
upon earth, they are the light and the salt of the world. 
Believe in the "fellowship of saints." Thou thinkest, 
" Oh, would that there were such a church somewhere upon 
earth, as that first at Jerusalem baptized by the Holy 
Spirit !" Well, that also has not yet disappeared. And we 
are now just about to treat of it. 

Acts ii. 42-47. 

H And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, 
and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul : 
and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that be- 
lieved were together, and had all things common ; and sold their possessions 
and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, 
continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from 
house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, 
praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added 
to the church daily such as should be saved." 

Oh what a charming spectacle is that presented to us, 
and found not in the ideal world of poesy, but in reality! 
Christianity recognises in it the portrait of her spiritual 
youth. It was thus that she looked when brought into life 
by the creative breath of the holy Spirit as the Pentecostal 
Church. Does she still recognise herself in this portrait, or 
does she shrink back from the mirror, blushing and con- 
fused ? 1 do not say that this Church has disappeared from 
the world. Nay, this lovely temple might again be recon- 
structed in our day, though the living stones of which it 
would be composed would be found far asunder. The 
Christian Church, however, is no longer this temple, and 
assuredly scarce any church could be found which might 
compare with that primary one at Jerusalem. This latter 



288 



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is and remains a type and pattern upon which every subse- 
quent church has to be moulded. It must, therefore, be of 
the highest interest for us to devote our intelligent considera- 
tion to the appearance of the Church of Christ in its original 
and typical constitution. Let us look upon that Church, 
then, in the first place, in its positive characteristic features ; 
and in the next, in its operation upon the world surround- 
ing it. May the beautiful picture excite us to more earnest 
emulation ! May the Lord bless our meditations ! 

I. You know the constitution of the Church which is now 
brought before us. Who would have thought that so noble 
a production could have been formed out of such crude and 
refractory materials as was the Israel of that time. You saw 
the well-known vision of the prophet Ezekiel realised on the 
day of Pentecost. A field covered with the bones of the 
spiritually dead lay before you. And to these the summons 
issued, " ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord." Peter 
then prophesied to them in the name of the Lord. Then 
began a noise and shaking on the wide and desolate field ; 
and when the "wind" — i.e., the Holy Ghost — was com- 
manded to " Gome and breathe upon these slain, that they 
■might live," breath came into them, and they rose, and lived ; 
and sinews and flesh grew lipon them, and they acquired a 
form. And there was an exceeding great army of them : 
three thousand in number. This was a miracle indeed of 
which the meaning was most consolatory and rich in pro- 
mise ! After the Spirit has once made an entrance, how 
quickly does He effect the most surprising and glorious 
transformation, even in the most uncouth and perverse 
nations ! How this cheers our prospect for this world and 
quickens our hope for the future ! The three thousand pro- 
selytes immediately joined themselves, as members of one 
body, to the believers who were already in J erusalem ; and 
thus, resplendent in all the living freshness of youthful 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 



289 



beauty, the first Christian church stood forth, the model for 
all those which should ever afterwards be formed. This 
community is minutely described to us in all its essential 
characteristics. We hear of their faith, of their fellowship, 
of their heavenly frame of mind, of their bold confession, 
and of the prevailing temper and disposition of the members. 

" They continued" thus we read, in the first place, " in the 
apostles doctrine." Happy indeed were they to have been 
able to cultivate the field of their Christian knowledge under 
the immediate direction of the holy apostles ! We, however, 
are not much less highly favoured. That which was com- 
municated and disclosed to them orally, we have before us 
in the text of the apostolic epistles. But the belief of the 
first Christians in the doctrine of the apostles is highly im- 
portant to us. It throws a great weight into the balance 
of our own convictions. The apostles preached to them that 
which is now delivered in their writings to us, — the divinity 
of Jesus Christ, the all-sufficiency of His mediation, justifica- 
tion by grace on the ground of His merits, and all that stands 
connected with the doctrines of grace. The believers in the 
apostolic message opened their hearts, utterly divested of all 
suspicion, to the Christ to whom they were now directed in 
all their . difficiil ties — the majority of them having known 
Him whilst living and moving bodily in their midst. This 
circumstance places it beyond doubt that they had themselves 
received impressions concerning His person in perfect har- 
mony with those great and glorious things which they now 
learned of Him, and with the design of His mission ; the 
one truly confirmed the other. It would occur to them, 
" Why should not we consider the sublime things which you, 
His confidants, proclaim to us concerning the nature, the 
dignity, and the works of the Son of Man, as worthy of all 
acceptation? His whole deportment tended to prove that 
He was precisely such a one as you have depicted Him, 

T 



290 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 



and that He really would accomplish great and marvellous 
tilings. We, moreover, saw His glory, the glory as of the 
only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth ! " But 
the intimate convictions which you, the contemporaries of 
Jesus, the eye and ear witnesses of both His deeds and words 
have formed, must materially contribute for ever to dissipate 
all remaining scruples in ourselves. Your faith sustains ours 
— nay, is even calculated to remove every prop, stay, and pre- 
text for unbelief. 

The fellowship of the first Christians has become cele- 
brated. The word in the original has a twofold application. 
It betokens mutual help in the distribution of earthly gifts, 
and in the exchange of spiritual ones ; and it likewise means 
intimate fellowship, and hearty interchange of sincerely re- 
ciprocated affection. The devil had not then sown the seeds 
of bickering and strife in the field of the Church which now, 
alas ! flourish so luxuriantly. Possibly even then diversity 
of views and apprehensions may have been manifested 
amongst Christians. But they were perfectly agreed in all 
fundamental articles — on those, for instance, concerning the 
Divine yet human person of the Redeemer, His work of 
atonement as the sole ground of acceptance with God, salva- 
tion by faith alone, — faith, however, which does not remain 
fruitless, but whose inevitable consequence is sanctity of life, 
— the sacraments as priceless divine means of grace and 
salvation ; — and this agreement, founded on common experi- 
ence both of - heart and life, was ever growing more deeply 
rooted, and proved more than adequate for the foundation 
of the most sincere and endeared relations between them. 
They knew that they were all bought with one blood, quick- 
ened by one Spirit, and called to one inheritance of the 
" saints in light." How could they but have felt as a family 
most intimately connected, associated for eternity, whose 
head was their exalted and glorified Master? 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 



291 



And they gave practical and symbolical expression to this 
feeling by frequently breaking bread in each other's houses 
and tents, doing so in small companies composed of different 
members ; taking their simple meal together, and thus re- 
calling the sacred table at which our Lord supped with His 
disciples. This, of course, took place after the heat and 
burden of the day, for we are not to imagine that they were 
idlers. You know how the disciples, after the resurrection 
of our Lord, returned to their nets during the short time 
they had to wait ; and again, how Paul afterwards, though 
preaching during the day, passed part of the night at the 
loom in order to earn his own bread. Their Lord, indeed, 
was no longer present at these social family repasts. But 
though not visibly with them, He was nevertheless essen- 
tially so, in the sweet peace, the inward heavenly joy, and 
the brotherly love, which He had shed abroad in their hearts. 
And He was still more intimately present with them in the 
significant solemnity which was ever united to these love- 
feasts, which was, indeed, the real aim of these meetings at 
the board, — I mean, in the communion which, in His ab- 
sence, so fully indemnified them for the loss of His presence, 
— in the enjoyment of the Lord's Supper, the elements of 
which had been blessed by Him himself, — the consecrated 
bread and wine, those seals of His grace, those pledges of 
His personal presence. How far were they elevated above 
the heights of earth, and how did they experience the truth 
of His promise, " Where two or three are met together in my 
name, there am I in the midst of them !" 

And do not marvel when it is further related concerning 
the members of this church, that they "had all things 
common, and sold their possessions and goods, and parted 
them to all men, as every man had need." The feeling of 
Christian fellowship was in them so powerful, that they 
naturally considered the worldly goods which had fallen to 



292 THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 

the lot of any as belonging also to the poor brethren who 
formed the greater part of the community ; and their frame 
of mind was so heavenly, that their appreciation of the 
gracious spiritual gifts which they had attained through 
Christ was such as to make all earthly property appear un- 
worthy of notice. Their hearts were entirely detached from 
it. But you are by no means to consider that this " having 
all things common " was imposed as law, or as an ordinance 
embodied in their ecclesiastical regulations. Each freely 
gave, and as freely retained, that which his own heart dic- 
tated. Neither did they purpose to equalise the disparity in 
their possessions in an external and mechanical manner. We 
are, on the contrary, specially informed that they parted them 
according as " every man had need" — i.e., at the time and to 
the extent which his necessities demanded. Nor would we 
have you less attentively observe that no one laid claim, no 
one demanded, but every proprietor felt self-constrained to 
impart to the brethren ; so that this exercise of active love 
formed a decided contrast to that which we are now accus- 
tomed to term communion. Moreover, finally, the peculiar 
mode and style in which the enthusiastic love of the primitive 
Christians actively demonstrated itself was not intended to 
serve as a prescribed legal precedent for all successive 
Christian churches. Besides, we nowhere find this style of 
beneficence exercised subsequently in the apostolic churches. 
But the spirit which, from a free, self-emanating impulse, 
invested that form at Jerusalem, is, and remains, the indis- 
pensable stamp of Christianity to this hour. We are to 
emulate the first Christians in sincere, practical, and self- 
denying cheerful brotherly love; and if we come short of 
their example on this point, nothing is more certain than 
that their faith and heavenly-mindedness differed in some 
respects from ours. 

It was an imperative necessity with them to confess the 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 293 

faith, in which they were so happy, aloud to the whole world ; 
and that which ranked next in point of urgency was to put it 
in action. It was not sufficient for them to pour forth their 
whole soul before the Lord in the privacy of the chamber, 
which they did incessantly, but they felt constrained likewise 
to testify aloud of Him who was to them their all in all, and 
this they did either to those who were as yet uninformed of 
our Lord, or to those who were unwilling to know Him. 
Following the custom of the more pious among their nation, 
they engaged daily in united prayer, but in their instance 
they offered prayer in the name of Jesus, to whom, as to their 
Friend in heaven, they boldly sung praises in the temple too. 
The temple was still God's house, as it had ever been ; it 
was only according to the natural course of things that it 
should have been transformed into the first Christian 
cathedral, had the entire Israelitish nation, chiefs and people, 
done homage to Him in whom the shadows and types of the 
temple were all fulfilled. Now, indeed, it was devoted to 
destruction. But as long as it stood, it was even to Chris- 
tians a sacred spot which served to elevate their souls, and 
where, moreover, they might reckon upon meeting with souls 
susceptible of evangelical impressions. Most justly does the 
Lord attach high importance to a frank and decided confes- 
sion of His name. Men may say what they please, but the 
absence of profession is an indication that Christianity has 
not yet been taken up in good sober earnest. But confes- 
sion is something more than a Christian formula. It springs 
from a cheerful impulse of the heart, and is based upon 
conviction, fixed as firm as a rock, and precisely hence is it 
an open and undaunted declaration of the colours and ban- 
ners to which a man has sworn fidelity. It is the discovery 
of the sacred mark and seal which Christ has stamped on the 
forehead of all of us who are His disciples ; a discovery 
which a man, moreover, feels himself inwardly constrained 



294 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 



to make precisely there where silence is equivalent to 
acquiescence in worldly unbelief ; and where plain speaking 
is not insured against the danger of being retorted upon with 
scorn, derision, or with even worse than these. Shame upon 
that cowardly reticence and silence ! How frequently are 
Christians guilty of it, and how much does it serve to dis- 
grace and cast obloquy upon our Lord's cause, with which 
they are identified ; and to what profound grief does it not 
bring those Christian brethren of whom they are the repre- 
sentatives ! 

And when, finally, it is said of the primitive Christians, 
that they "did eat their meat with gladness and with 
singleness of heart" we thereby get a glimpse of their 
'prevailing tone of mind. Free from every trace of con- 
strained and painful asceticism, and without the gloom of 
conventual life, they were truly cheerful, bright, and inoffen- 
sively joyous folk. And how could they well have been 
otherwise, they who knew, that through the blood of Christ 
and the grace of the Holy Spirit, they had a conscience void 
of offence before God and all the world, and that they were 
children of their heavenly Father's family, for the present 
travelling together to the Jerusalem above ? There was no- 
thing artificial, nothing forced or affected about them, but 
everything bore the stamp of originality and truth. Never 
hesitating as to their line of action, and ever exercising that 
tact which is the gift of the Holy Spirit, they uniformly chose 
the right, and thereby proved themselves to belong to the 
"righteous" for whom there is "no law given" because the 
law of God is engraven upon their hearts. And though, in 
contemplation of their heavenly inheritance, there was not 
one of them but could say with the apostle in reference to 
earthly things, " i" have learnt in whatsoever state I am there- 
with to be content, and am instructed both to be full and to 
be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need." Nevertheless, 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 



295 



the least temporal advantage with which they saw themselves 
blest, sufficed to animate them with innocent, child-like joy, 
because they recognised in it a renewed mark of God's favour, 
who had taken upon Himself to provide for their wants, 
both of soul and body, and who kept the very hairs of their 
heads numbered. And hence it was that at table they 
praised God, "and did eat their meat with gladness and 
singleness of heart," no longer tormented with scruples as to 
what was permitted, and what not; moreover, they felt 
themselves to be in the temple of the Lord, not only upon 
Mount Moriah, but likewise in their dwellings and houses, 
and everywhere else. 

Such, my friends, were the characteristics of the first 
Christian Church. You will admit that if it had but spread 
itself over the whole world, there would have been no prisons, 
no workhouses, no courts of justice, or similar institutions 
upon earth. The steel of our swords would have been 
wrought into ploughshares, and the metal of our cannon 
would have been converted into church-bells. Goodness and 
truth would everywhere have embraced each other, and 
righteousness and peace would have kissed each other. 

II. It may readily be imagined that a church, the funda- 
mental features of which were such as those which we have 
just depicted, must necessarily have shone forth with won- 
drous effect upon a world wholly estranged from the faith. 
It is said with reference to its members, that " they had 
favour with all the people!' This is saying much. It 
astonishes us. Modern believers have not been so happy 
in their experience. And why not ? Much might be said 
in reply to this question ; and in enumerating some of the 
reasons, I have to observe that the majority of men of the 
world regard evangelical professors with mistrust, because 
they find so many among them who are self-convicted of 
insincerity, and to be of those who hold indeed the word of 



296 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 



truth, but not the truth of the Word ; for they assume the 
externals of Christianity but that they may please men, or 
out of respect to prevalent fashion, or from political interests, 
because Christianity is conservative, or out of affection to 
the party to which they stand pledged, and in whose pro- 
gramme the article of a positive faith is inscribed. Again, 
it is to be regretted, that of true believers, those are ever 
becoming more rare who are wholly what they seem, who 
know how to keep themselves clear of morbid developments, 
of morbid deformities of one kind or another, — such as a 
censorious spirit, haughty self - exaltation, a striving after 
empty honours flimsily masked with a feigned humility, 
affected unction, a mere sham, and occasionally untruthful- 
ness. Were all believers, in their moral features, like those 
children of the Spirit at Jerusalem — if all they said and 
did breathed only humility and love — were their life but 
to preach the glory of the gospel practically as much as 
they do it orally, — then indeed the respect of all and the 
love of many would be fully assured to them likewise ; and 
they would also serve, as did their prototypes there, not only 
as lighthouses to the dismasted and rudderless tempest-tossed 
vessels on the sea of life seeking a port of refuge, but they 
would be joyously hailed as beacons indicating the course to 
be followed, and, by the influence of sincere personal holi- 
ness, purely reflecting peace, they would exert irresistible 
powers of attraction for the morally noble, beautiful, and 
sublime. The effect wrought by their presence would 
assuredly be similar to that produced at Jerusalem, (where 
"fear came upon every soul,") at which there is no ground for 
marvel ; for, contemplating themselves in the mirror of such 
a regenerate race, they would feel terrified at the loss of their 
security, and they would inwardly feel themselves sentenced 
and condemned for their own personal alienation from God, 
and for their worldly-mindedness. But this would not pre- 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 



297 



vent the reoccurrence to believers of the very same experi- 
ence which is reported of those who, baptized with the Spirit, 
were the first-fruits of the kingdom of Christ, viz., " They 
had favour with all the people. A nd the Lord added to 
the Church daily such as should he saved." 

Would that the loving church of Pentecost, the beautiful 
conception of which we retain to this hour, might again 
somewhere present itself, that we, at least, might confidently 
affirm of some one spot upon earth, " There, if you desire to 
see it, you will find a church, exhibiting, in its carriage, 
genuine and living Christianity ! " All that we can do, in the 
meanwhile, to satisfy the desire of those who cherish such a 
wish, is to select individual impersonations of it throughout 
the world, and to bring the latter as an imaginary body be- 
fore them ; but the time will come when it will be other- 
wise. The historic manifestation of the first Christian church 
was at once both prophetic type and Divine promise for the 
future. The prophecy of the seer Joel is as yet but in in- 
cipient accomplishment. Another Pentecost of all-absorb- 
ing proportions is in the distance. May this ardently-hoped- 
for time presently dawn upon this our night, when Immanuel 
shall begin to wield exclusv^ s^raignty upon earth, when 
Satan, bound, shall be committed to the abyss, and humanity 
shall form one fold under one Shepherd ; and it shall be 
said, in perfect truth, to every Church, "In everything ye 
are enriched by Him ; in faith, in utterance, in knowledge, 
in all diligence, and in love, so that ye come behind in no 
gift ; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." 

" Conqueror, conquer ! Kuler, reign ! 
Bang, assert Thy sovereign right, 
Till no slavery more remain ! 
Spread the kingdom of Thy might ! 
Lead the captives freely out, 
Through the covenant of Thy blood, 



298 



THE PENTECOSTAL COMMUNITY. 



From our dark remorse and doubt, 
For Thou wiliest but our good. 

** Draw us to Thy cross, Love ! 
Crucify with. Thee whate'er 
Cannot dwell with Thee above ; 
Lead us to those regions fair. 
Courage ! long the time may seem, 
Yet His day is coming fast ! 
We shall be like them that dream 
When our freedom dawns at last." 

Gottfried Arnold, 1696. — Lyra (femanica. 



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